Ghost Dance
by JabberwockyAi
Summary: No paltry fool forgets the Big Bad Wolf. He haunts the shadows and waits in darkness, until doubt enters your heart and you know not the forest from the trees.
1. Chapter 1: Dream Catcher

**Ghost Dance**

_The oldest stories live deep within us. Deeper than our very bones. They define who we are and the paths we walk._

_This is a story about stories. YST and BSSM crossover._

_**Warnings:** Language, mild shoujo ai and implied shounen ai. Some blood and dark themes later. Also some possible OOCness either for humour's sake or the sheer fact it's been a few years since I've watched either series all the way through. Props to anyone who catches the Firefly quote_ :3

**Monday**

**Chapter 1: Dream Catcher**

_Wind whistled against the windows, rattling the brittle glass and a cold draft swept through the room. Rotting wood furniture, its upholstery moldy and moth eaten, cluttered the room. Dusty cobwebs hung from everywhere, the only sign of their arachnid occupants were the dried, semi-translucent exoskeletons with their spindly legs curled in on themselves. _

_Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair..._

_There was a spinning wheel in the corner. A pile of gold thread lay on one side, another pile of ancient straw on the other. Not far off was a bottle of poison drawn from the tail of a Manticore and a bowl of apples. They were the only things in the room that didn't seem decayed. Even under the layer of dust, their round, lush surfaces, red as blood gleamed in the orange torchlight._

_Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair,_

_High in your tower, I know you're up there_

_Everywhere, the room was filled with what seemed like useless junk. A dusty red hood and cape hung on a coat rack, a garland of dry and withered roses, a nutcracker, a golden harp, twelve pairs of worn out silk slippers, a glass shoe, a sword rusted firmly in it's scabbard, an old horn, a pea, a rusty flute and a gold clock in a glass case with a red rose blossoming among it's gears._

_Rapunzel, Rapunzel, locked away for all time_

_Let down your hair and may you be mine_

_Under the cobwebs, the walls were decorated with old, primitive drawings and even older runes carved into the stone. If you just looked at them, you could see the darkness, made even blacker and kept at bay only by the meager firelight. You could feel hot breath on your neck and you hoped to high heaven it was just a draft, blowing a bit of heat from the fire. You could smell the blood of the hunt, and the fear of the unknown._

_You could see the first stories taking shape in the form of eight legged buffalo, and a volley of arrows._

_There were wolves and trees and the phases of the moon. But first..._

_First there was the light and then there were mountains, oceans, fire and stars._

_Rapunzel, Rapunzel, locked away in the high tower_

_Shall no one see the blossom of this magnificent flower?_

_There was a horse. It didn't look like a horse, or at least the shell of horse. But you knew what it was, because it was how a horse flowed when it moved. It was drawn in white chalk and only looked like a couple of lines. But they were exactly what a horse was. There were four of them in a line and in they left in their wake Pestilence, Famine, War and Death._

_Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair_

_Or will you forever be locked up in there?_

_In the center of the room was a canopy bed. The curtains had probably once been velvet and a deep wine red, but time had faded them into threadbare old rags. Through the holes one could just make out hints of a figure sleeping deeply._

_Reaching out, he drew aside the curtains..._

Seiji sat bolt upright, breath coming in labored gasps. The room spun and his legs were tangled in his sweat-soaked sheets. He could still smell dust and rotting wood. As the dream receded, and reality seemed less hazy, he struggled free of the tangled mess he'd made of his bed. He'd have to do laundry later, he thought offhandedly with just a small sense of irritation.

Seiji felt angry. He was angry because he _knew _that hadn't been a normal dream. He was angry because he could still feel the ghostly touch of the cobwebs, and he was angry because the smell of mold was still present and making his allergies act up. But mostly he was angry because he knew that dream had been full of warnings, heralding some sort of threat.

He spared a glance to the bed across the room from him. Shin Mouri was dead to the world, and Seiji knew he'd be the one most upset by this news. For now, Seiji decided it was best to let him get some sleep. He'd been so excited to come visit with Nasuti and his friends. So had everyone for that matter. It was good to catch up on old times. It had been a little over a year since the incident with Suzunagi and everyone had gone their own ways. Seiji was off at university, and his grandfather had become quite sick. He'd been trying to find a good family to arrange for his grandson to marry into and carry on the family legacy. Touma was off studying Astronomy and chemistry at Todai, and loving every second of it. Shin and Shuu were going to the same school and shared an apartment in Aoyama. And Ryo... Ryo was taking a year off from school and working a lot of part time jobs to save up enough for tuition.

The reunion had been good. All but Jun had been able to make it, mostly because Jun's parents had started to wonder what sort of people he was spending his summers with. Certainly none of his friends from school.

It was a sad reality, but a reality nonetheless. The boy's parents wouldn't remember what had happened, and it was probably strange to them that their twelve year old son was spending his summer breaks with five college students and a young lady who had just gotten her Masters degree instead of kids his own age.

Seiji picked himself up off the bed and headed to the window. Looking out, he could just see a pale pink line of light against the dark, star strewn sky.

_Red sky at morning..._

He picked out his clothes for the day. It was about half an hour before he'd usually get up, so there really wasn't any point in going back to bed. Besides he could use that extra time in the bathroom, getting ready for the day.

It looked to be a long one.

---

_Once upon a time, there was a poor woodcutter who lived with his wife and daughter in the Forgotten Forest. She was a good and obedient daughter, and quite beautiful as well. She did all her duties as a daughter. She cooked and cleaned and wove most splendid cloth when she could a hold of things with which to spin thread from._

_Her weaving was well known throughout the village and nearby town as the finest in the district. _

_One day, her mother fell quite ill. The woodcutter and his daughter tended to the stricken woman until dawn before she finally died. There was a small funeral, and they buried her in the church cemetery where it is said roses grow around her grave._

_After his wife died, the heartbroken woodcutter was never quite the same. He went drinking every night._

_On one night before the village festival, he bragged in a drunken stupor that his daughter was so good at weaving that he claimed she could spin cobwebs in to the finest silk, wool into silver thread, and straw into gold._

_This soon turned to a rumor that reached the King's ears. Now the King was a cruel man, and knowing that it was nothing more than a silly rumor, he called the woodcutter into his court._

"_Woodcutter," he said in a voice cold as ice and loud as thunder, "I have heard great things about your daughter's weaving. Are these things true? If they are not, you will be charged with lying to your King, and you know that a lie to your king is as good as treason."_

"_They are true." The Woodcutter replied firmly, for he knew if he admitted to lying both he and his daughter would be put to death._

"_Then I order you to bring her here so we might put her skills to the test."_

_The woodcutter had no choice. His daughter was brought before the King the next evening and she was told to weave straw into gold. She had until dawn to weave all the straw in the stables into shimmering threads._

_As the moon rose above the horizon, and the woodcutter's daughter felt overwhelmed with despair, a voice called to her from the rafters._

"_Beautiful girl, why do you weep? For are you not fortuitous to be beautiful and well-mannered and loved by your family?"_

"_I cry for my mother in heaven, and my father who by a drunken slip of his tongue has landed us a death sentence!"_

"_I can help you," said the little man, emerging from the shadows. He was small and dressed all in brown leather and leaves. He had skin like the bark of a tree, and curly red hair. He smoked a pipe and there was an oddly shaped carbuncle at the tip of his nose. "My name is of no importance, for all you need to know is that I am a friend of Robin Goodfellow. Are you not the girl who must weave straw into gold?"_

"_I am none other," said the woodcutter's daughter miserably. "Can you really help me?"_

"_I can in exchange for something precious of yours."_

"_You cannot help me then," she said with despair. "For I am the daughter of a woodcutter, not a merchant or a nobleman. My possessions are few and plain."_

"_Ah, but you are a woman and do women not carry children and give milk?"_

_The woodcutter's daughter couldn't help but to laugh. "Only when a woman loses her maidenhead can she carry a child and only when the child is born will she give milk."_

"_I see. Then I shall take the maidenhead, milk, and the child as my payment." Said the small man._

_So on the first night, he took her maidenhead. The next night, in exchange for spinning wool into silver, she gave him sheep and goat's milk. On the third night, she was placed into an old, unused room where the small man spun cobwebs into silk._

"_So where is the baby?" He demanded. The woodcutter's daughter explained that it took about a year for a child to be born._

"_I will return every night to check on your progress until the child has arrived then."_

"_But I cannot give you my first born if you are just going to take him away!" _

"Then if you can guess my name, you can keep your child."

_So the princess was married to the King's son, and every night the small, strange man visited the woodcutter's daughter, who was now a princess. And each night she would guess many, many names until he left._

_Six months into her pregnancy, after the man had left, the Princess was at a loss. She had guessed so many names, read so many books and studied every fairy and friend of Robin Goodfellow. She had become a wise and intelligent woman, and she spent much of her time pouring through the King's official documents. People didn't think much of it because she was a woman and not of noble birth. Her curiosity was harmless, though a bit eccentric. Especially because she always spoke of fairies._

_That fateful night, she went to the room where she had watched him weave cobwebs into silk and thought, and thought, and thought. She was so deep in thought that she did not notice a small yellow and brown spider that had crawled up to her hand._

"_Oh princess who has my name, and bears the gift and burden that I bore; if you wish to save this child from the fairies, I will give you this advice; on the seventh day of the week, follow the man back to his home in the Forgotten Forest. It is on the seventh day of the week that he goes to the bar and sings his praises for all his mischief. Wear a cloak of his silk, a crown of his gold and a ring of his silver so that you will carry the magic of a fairy and not be seen as a human. These things will protect you."_

"_You are a Arachne, cursed to be a spider because of your pride. How can I trust you?"_

"_Because you are Arachne, blessed with humility and you have no other choice."_

_So she took heed of the spider's advice and on the following Sunday, the small man returned._

"_We have three more months of this, so I believe you know the routine."_

"_No, we don't." Said the Princess, resting a hand on her swollen belly. "You have given me much, and taken many important things from me in exchange. But I cannot let you have my first born child. However, I am grateful so I will give you this." From her breast she took a small, plain locket made of tin. Inside was a lock of her mother's hair. She gave it to him._

"_Farewell, Rumpelstiltskin. I am glad we met, and my only regret is that we never shall again."_

_Without a word, the small man left with the locket held close to his chest._

_And this was how Arachne had her soul stolen._

While Seiji was getting ready for the day, Hotaru lowered the book of fairy tales and nestled a little deeper into the blankets. The first light of day was just creeping up over the horizon and turning the morning mist a rich, orange and pinkish colour. The first day of summer vacation, and she couldn't sleep a wink. Reading hadn't helped put her to sleep either. Setting the book down on top of the bedside table, she glanced at the clock. 5:37 am blinked in red back at her. Puffing up her cheeks, she rolled onto her side and stared out the window. Michiru-mama and Haruka-papa wouldn't be up for another two hours.

It was another half an hour before sleep finally came. Her last thought before she dozed off was '_Was that really how Rumpelstiltskin ended?_'

At around seven thirty, two alarm clocks went off and an eager Hotaru bounded downstairs.

"Good morning, Michiru-mama!" Hotaru chirped. Michiru greeted her with a bleary smile, rubbing sleep from her eyes. Usually Haruka was the late sleeper, but Michiru had been up late. The Aqua Mirror had been showing her some unpleasant things, none of which she could make head nor tail of. She would have to talk to Haruka, Hotaru and (when she arrived that afternoon) Setsuna.

"Good morning Hotaru," Michiru stifled a yawn, as she got down a box of Honey Bunches of Oats. "Just cereal today. We have that big lunch today. Did you sleep well?"

Hotaru nodded, climbing up on the counter to get down two packets of instant oatmeal. Haruka-papa and her always had instant oatmeal together on cereal days. "Yup! I'm really excited for today. Setsuna is coming over, isn't she?"

Michiru managed a smile. "She sure is. She wants to congratulate you on your grades. Now you just have ninth grade and you'll be in high school!"

Hotaru considered this. "It's going by so quick. Are you sure Setsuna isn't speeding up time?"

Michiru had to laugh. Last night, Haruka had said something along the lines of "It seems like only yesterday we were trying to kill her. Now she's family and off to high school in a little over a year."

The Soldier of Neptune smiled fondly as she watched Hotaru fix two bowls of instant oatmeal and pop them into the microwave. It wasn't a fairy tale family. Nothing ever was. But Hotaru had a family that loved her and that's all that really mattered. It gave Michiru half a mind to try calling up her parents again, perhaps at least try to reconcile _something. _But even though Usagi's idealism had won Michiru and Haruka over in regards to Hotaru, there was no changing her parents minds. When they had found out Haruka wasn't a man, there had been an almighty row and Michiru, their talented, their obedient, their _perfect_ daughter had been disowned.

But Haruka and Hotaru had been worth it. Haruka's family had been far more accepting ('expecting ' seemed a more appropriate term at the time. Haruka's parents had long since given up any hope of their daughter bringing home a young man when she so easily passed as one herself).

Michiru sat down with her cereal, peeling open a magazine as Haruka ambled in, running a towel through her short, sandy blond hair.

"Morning," Haruka gave a long yawn, rubbing her eyes and giving Michiru a kiss on the forehead. "Guess I'm not making pancakes today, huh?" She teased, noticing Michiru's bowl of cereal.

"Nope," Michiru replied, patting Haruka's arm consolingly. Monday's were usually Haruka's day to make pancakes which had the honour of being 'almost as good at Makoto's'. She smiled, tugging at that small curl in Haruka's hair that always managed to stick up. "We've got a big day ahead of us. And after lunch today, I want to speak with Hotaru, you and Setsuna."

A grim look passed across Haruka's face. She knew what kind of chats involved all four of them.

"How close?"

"The mirror was being vague so... not so close that we can't enjoy our day and get to know our new neighbors."

Haruka nodded, as the microwave went 'PING'. Wordlessly, Hotaru set down the two bowls of oatmeal for her and Haruka-papa, but she didn't feel so hungry anymore.

"The two of you, really. Cheer up! We'll have lunch today and then nip this in the bud before it becomes a real threat. Now eat up! We need to clean up around here and I can't have you both dragging your feet."

Hotaru looked at Michiru and then to a baffled Haruka. The Soldier of Uranus's mouth curved into a grin. "Well, when you put it like that..." She grinned, digging into her oatmeal, and gave Hotaru a wink. "We'll be okay."

---

_The words were writing themselves. Ink the colour of old blood spreading across the pages thin and brown with age. Words curled out like roots, and pictures began to form under the writing._

_They made the face of a clock._

_And Time was ticking._

---

Nasuti and Touma had been awake almost the entire night, having taken apart her P.C. It was time to back up her information on a few data discs, and put in a new hard drive, motherboard, and processor. The ordeal had taken a while, but Nasuti and Touma were champion night owls, and very little could keep them from a computer in desperate need of new parts. Besides, she had bribed Touma with a chance to play the beta of some new online Role Playing Game he'd been raving about but didn't have the funds to buy past the free trial.

As the first yellow light of morning shone in through the windows and the sounds of the shower starting filtered down from upstairs, the two surveyed their handiwork with a sense of pride. With the lack of error windows coming up on the brand new, wide LCD monitor, and the computer not shutting down at random, it was proof they had done well.

"Wicked." Touma remarked, flashing a thumbs up as Nasuti put in the first data DVD. "It worked."

"Let's not count our chickens before they hatch. I haven't done anything yet. I'll need to get the 'net all set up again, and I have to make sure I can actually- oh bullocks, don't tell me the DVD drive isn't reading DVDs!"

Touma looked over at the at the machine, before the menu came up on the screen.

"Never mind," Nasuti gave a small exhale of relief. "False alarm."

It wasn't long before Shin was downstairs, ready to make breakfast. "Good morning everyone. Fancy Touma seeing this side of morning. You pull an all nighter?" He teased, as Touma scowled at him.

"Quiet you. Didn't see you help fix the computer."

Nasuti rolled her eyes, deciding to focus on copying her old files. The morning banter was going to take a while, and there was no way of breaking it up since it was all in good fun anyway. Besides, there were more productive things she could be doing, like testing out her new processor.

They had gotten older, more mature, but the boys still liked to take the piss out of each other. Most surprisingly, shy little Shin had turned out to be a world class master of banter, who could hold his own against 'My IQ is 255!' Touma.

Observe.

"Well aren't you just the knight in shining armor. Isn't earning you any extra waffles though."

"Nah, you save those for your boyfriend, Cinderella."

Shin flushed, but otherwise didn't seem phased. Nasuti could only imagine Touma was talking about Shuu.

"Can it little boy blue. Instead of harassing Nasuti here, why don't you make yourself useful and get Sleeping Beauty and Snow White up?"

"Maybe I should do that then!"

"Well maybe you should!"

"Fine!"

"Good!"

Shin, the victor, wandered off to the kitchen, as Touma stomped off upstairs. Waffles needed making. There were six hungry mouths to feed, and Touma and Shuu were champion face stuffers. Ryo wasn't exactly a finicky eater either.

Seiji was the next one downstairs, rubbing the sleep from his gray eyes. His hair was still damp from his shower, and he was dressed in a neat, dark green button down shirt and khaki slacks. "Good morning Shin," he greeted his roommate who was already bustling around making batter for the waffles.

"Good morning to you too, sunshine," Shin chirped, sifting flour into a ceramic bowl. "Heard you didn't sleep too well last night."

Seiji inwardly cringed. "Oh bloody hell, I'm sorry. Did I wake you?"

"Sort of, but I was pretty much out of it anyway, so I thought I was just dreaming. You kept repeating 'Rapunzel, Rapunzel' and a weird English rhyme."

Seiji wasn't the swearing sort. But he very nearly uttered an expletive when Shin's words sunk in.

"About that..."

"Save it." Shin said, keeping his voice very level. He didn't need Seiji's sixth sense to know that things were taking a turn for the worst. "Tell us when we're all together and-"

There was suddenly a very loud, very indignant scream from upstairs, shortly followed by another and then the pitter-patter of stampeding feet. It was the sound of Touma making a rapid get-away, closely pursued by Ryo and Shuu.

A blur of blue darted through the kitchen, nearly toppling a still-sleepy Seiji face-first into the table. Shin heard the hall closet open and slam shut.

Both very red in the face, Shuu and Ryo hurried into the kitchen as Seiji tried to regain his usual aloof composure.

"Where'd he go?!" Shuu demanded, while Ryo was scrubbing his lips with the sleeve of his pajamas.

It didn't take long for Shin to put two and two together. "...I didn't expect him to take me seriously," he mused to no one in particular.

"**_You _**put him up to this?!" A scandalized Shuu accused, pointing wildly at Shin who was demurely cracking eggs into a bowl.

"He **_kissed_** me!" Ryo wailed. "I've _never_ been kissed before!"

"Ah, amoré," Shin gave a mock wistful look, before jerking his thumb in the direction of the hallway. "He's in the closet."

"Doesn't surprise me," Shuu replied, a devious grin passing across his face as he cracked his knuckles. Ryo was already storming off towards the hallway.

"Boys will be boys, hmm?" Nasuti said, wandering into the kitchen after Shuu and Ryo had gone off after Touma (who had abandoned the closet but was shortly cornered in the living room). "Anything I can help with?" She asked, stretching and popping her stiff neck.

"Yeah actually, do you have any of that sugar in the raw?" Shin asked, ignoring the muffled shouting and thuds coming from the living room. A growl and three surprised squawks suggested that Byakuen had woken up and decided to join in the three-way wrestling match.

"Should have," Nasuti yawned again. "Touma and I were using it in our coffee last night. Aha!" She produced the box, shook it to make sure there was substantial amount left, and handed it to Shin. "Should be enough."

"Fantastic," Shin smiled, taking the box and carefully started measuring out the sugar.

It was a morning like any other they had shared in the past four years. There was joking and rough housing. Even Seiji would come out of his shell enough to make a few backhanded compliments that Ryo and Shuu only occasionally picked up on, and left Touma snickering. Shin and Nasuti would occasionally take sides to even the score, or they'd talk about school. Not-so-far-fetched tales of eccentric professors, exploding Bunsen burners, toilet papered trees, the degradation of society and traditional values in Japan's youth today ("You sound like an old man, Seiji!" Nasuti had teased), and Ryo's borderline bi-polar boss who ate raw hamburger meat every Wednesday.

Ryo watched his friends laugh and joke and tell tales of their time away from each other. While they had enjoyed themselves, it seemed everyone was most happy when they were here, in Nasuti's kitchen together. Ryo smiled as Touma ruffled his unruly dark hair, talking about a chemistry professor at Todai who matched the description of Ryo's boss.

It was a lot like a big family. No matter what happened, they still had each other. Even if they all went their separate ways, there would always be reunions to remind them of how important they were to each other.

"Hey Ryo, better stop spacing out or Shuu's gonna grab your waffles!" Nasuti warned, pointing to a fork that was edging ever closer.

Ryo snapped out of his reverie and there was a brief battle between forks before he reclaimed his breakfast.

"Dammit Nasuti, I was _that_ close!"

"Serves you right. Ahh, you jerk! Those were mine! That's it, no mercy!"

"Would someone please pass the pumpkin jam?"

"I don't know how you can eat that stuff, Seiji. It's got like, no sugar in it."

"Precisely."

"Shin, protect me! Nasuti's gonna stab me with a butter knife and eat my brains!"

"Nasuti's a zombie now, huh?"

"It's what you deserve, you little sneak thief!"

"Hey guys, what does a vegan zombie say?"

"Graaaaaaaaaiiiiins! ...C'mon Touma, you've done that one before."

"What's a vegan? Is it something from Star Wars?"

"Ryo, I think your confusing that with a Vulcan, and those are from Star Trek."

"Gasp! We have a closet Trekkie in our midsts!"

"Shut it, Shuu! You're not one to be talking."

"Heh, I never said it was a _bad _thing, dorkus."

Ryo smiled, taking a gulp of orange juice. It was true. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Outside, the morning mist rose up into the hot summer air, solemn as a ghost.

---

Early yellow sunlight filtered in through the new kitchen windows. Jun had just put two frozen waffles into the toaster, and was now eagerly awaiting his first breakfast in this strange new house that smelled of plastic finish and made unfamiliar noises. A new house, a new neighborhood and a new school after the summer. His father had hoped to put off the move until Jun started high school, but that proved to be impossible with the new promotion.

Still, Jun had dealt with worse and the neighborhood seemed all right. He was even a little excited to meet the neighbors. He'd heard they had adopted a kid his age, and it would be nice to make a friend.

His cat, Spike, wandered in, rubbing leisurely against the corner of the fridge. Spike was a lazy ginger tom cat who knew exactly what buttons to push to get his way. His way was usually food, or battling it out with Jun's father over the cushy recliner in the living room. Spike hated Jun's father and visa versa. In truth, the only one who actually liked Spike in the whole family was Jun's grandmother, who had gone quite senile around a year ago, just a little after her ninety fourth birthday.

Jun's mother had stopped by with a zucchini bread she had made, and found her mother's apartment flat overrun with stray cats she had taken in. The place reeked of moldy cat food, cat hair, and cat byproducts straight out of cat digestive systems. The old woman had spent the last month living off of cheese and water crackers and had refused any company.

It had taken a week of hard work to get most of the cats to the shelter (the ones that didn't manage to escape), clean up the flat, and move all of the old lady's things over to their house.

Jun's grandmother hadn't liked the move. She had protested constantly, but she had settled into a sort of grudging acceptance of the whole matter.

Jun set down a bowl of dry cat food for Spike who had gotten to licking his chops and preparing for the grand concerto of meowing his head off until someone gave him something edible.

Taking his monthly issue of a video game magazine from the stack of yesterday's mail, Jun plucked his toasty waffles from the slots and sat down with his breakfast. It would be a while before anyone was up and Jun liked these quiet mornings to himself. Circling a potential birthday present, Jun considered taking the Friday afternoon train up to Nasuti's. Getting out over summer break would do him some good. Not to mention get him some temporary relief from his mother nagging him with a million and one extracurricular activities she wanted him to sign up for over the break.

His musings were put on hold by a sudden creak from the stairway. _Crap! _The thirteen year old wolfed down his breakfast and quickly hid the plate and utensils in the dishwasher. He swallowed the last of is, just as his grandmother wandered in.

She was a thin, frail looking woman with skin like wrinkled old paper. Though she was nearly ninety five years old, she was in relatively good physical condition, despite the fact her mind was slipping. She only needed the aid of an old wicker cane with a handle carved in the shape of a crow's head to walk around. Right now she was in her night gown, bathrobe and mismatched slippers, and peering around the kitchen as if she were perplexed as to how she had got there.

"Grandma," Jun sagged a little with relief and hurried over to see what she needed. "Grandma, you okay?"

"Ijima..." she croaked and waved him off with a gnarled hand, "Ijima, I had the strangest dream. You were there and so was Elliot." His grandmother suddenly seized him by the wrist. For a frail old lady, her grip was almost vice-like. "They're coming, Ijima. They're coming back."

"Grandma? What's wrong? Who's Ijima?" Jun was alarmed by this outburst. Usually his grandmother was confused and sometimes called him by his Uncle's name, but this was the first time she had ever mentioned someone called Ijima.

"...Oh dear, Ijima, did the Forgotten Forest take your memory? Don't worry, the toxin will wear off and you'll be fine soon."

"No, grandma, it's me! Jun, your grandson!"

His grandmother gave him a blank stare, her grip loosening around his wrist. He managed to tug his arm away and rest a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Jun?" She croaked, letting him lead her out the kitchen to the stairs.

"That's right," Jun said in a level voice. "It's me. Jun Yamano!"

His grandmother shook her head, rubbing her forehead. "But that can't be right. You can't be here. That woman! She must be messing with time again! Ooh if I ever see her again I'll strangle her with my bare hands!" She paused, looking thoughtful for a moment. "No wait... yes, I'm ninety five in a few days. Yes... damn my mind, wandering off the time line and into the past." She gave Jun an apologetic smile. "Sorry love, it happens when you get old. Now help me up these god forsaken stairs. Honestly, your father..."

Jun gave his grandmother an incredulous look. It was true she said a lot of stuff and did even weirder things, but she was a nice old lady, in the cantankerous way that bitter old people could be nice. Helping her up the steps one at a time, he led her to her room, wondering just what was going on in that head of hers. Even before she had gone senile, she would say strange things like "Sorry, I didn't catch that. I was remembering the future again," or "Bullocks, that should have happened yesterday! What are those idiots doing?!" People just tended to laugh it off with 'My, isn't she a card!' but Jun always got the impression that his grandmother was the one really laughing.

She settled in among the sheets in a room that smelled strongly of lilacs and, for whatever reason, cats (even though they only had Spike and nowhere else in the house smelled of cat).

"You're a good boy Jun." She croaked, sinking back into oversized pillows that dwarfed her already diminished frame. "I don't think I'm going to be with you much longer though. Hard to tell though... Bloody Hell, I can remember Crystal Tokyo but I can't remember when I'm going to kick the damn bucket. Mind like a bleedin' sieve."

"Grandma, don't say that. The doctor said you're in good health and everything."

His grandmother gave a dismissive snort. "Pshaw. Health don't have nothin' to do with it. When a lady's gotta go, she's gotta go, and I ain't goin' peacefully neither. S'happening again, and damned if I ain't there when it does."

Jun sat at the edge of her bed as she rambled sleepily.

"But 'fore it happens, I got a little present for ya. You gotta promise me something though boy. You're gotta promise you're gonna look after what I'm about to give you. You can't show it to anybody, no matter how much you might trust 'em. Even if they ask you nice. I don't care if they're your mama, papa or best friend. You never let 'em see it."

"O... Okay."

"Swear it."

"I... I swear it...?" Jun was confused. One minute, she was an ambling, absent minded, grouchy old granny, the next she was looking at him with a stare like some ancient bird of prey.

From her bedside table, she removed a dusty, moth eaten old book from the drawer along with a blue fountain pen. Opening its stiff, yellow pages, she scribbled something out.

"Hold out your hand, palm up." She ordered flatly, capping the pen and removing something from behind her ear. Jun did as he was told and she caught his wrist a second time in that grip that would have made Shuu proud.

"Ouch!" Jun gasped, as she pricked the tip of his index finger with a pin. He tried to pull away to suck on the small wound, but to no avail. The old woman held fast. "What was that for?" He demanded as a bead of red formed on the tip of his finger.

"Oh, don't be such a baby. You've had worse than a little prick on the finger. Sign your name here." She said, holding up the page she had written on. The sill damp ink glistened black in the morning light.

"What?! In blood?"

"Give the boy a cigar. No lad, I only stuck a pin in your finger because I wanted to try me hand at acupuncture. Of course in blood! Makes it official." She huffed as if this was obvious. Jun was stunned. Was his grandmother some kind of cultist?

"Why? So I keep my word?" He asked very slowly, as if he were talking to someone just about to jump off a building.

"No lad. So when you're stupid enough to break it, your soul's got a fighting chance."

"I-"

"_Sign it._"

Slowly, Jun ran his finger over the page, writing out the characters for his name. There was no crack of thunder or dramatic flicker of the lights. The earth didn't even have the decency to quake, as convention dictates. Instead, his grandmother took the book and blew on the ink that was still drying.

"Good lad." She took out the last occupant of her bedside table drawer; a small, navy blue velvet pouch. Something heavy inside jingled with a decidedly metallic sound. He gave it a perplexed stare. "I was going to give it to your mum, but she wouldn't know what to do with it. Blasted girl wouldn't know magic if a dragon up and bit her in the arse. But you lad... I know what you've seen. You take care of that, and only use it when all other doors are locked."

"I... you... _what_?!" Okay, it was one thing to find out your grandmother was crazy. It was a decidedly different can of worms that she had just alluded to knowing about your childhood adventures with magical samurai fighting evil overlords.

"Don't start interrogating me. I'm tired and would like to get in a nice mornings sleep before I'm up and ready to embarrass the hell out of your parents in front of the new neighbors. You go off and open your present- Not here! Crikey, didn't I just say don't show it to anyone? Not even me!"

Jun's mouth was opening and closing, before he finally darted off to his room. He could hear his parents' alarm clock going off in their room.

Locking his door behind him, he sank very slowly down onto his bed, his mind abuzz with questions.

Just who was his Grandmother? And the Ijima person she had mentioned?

Carefully, he opened the pouch, wondering if its contents would give him any answers. He tipped out the metallic thing, followed by a small, rolled up piece of parchment tied by a red ribbon.

It was a silver key on a chain. It didn't look particularly fancy aside from the red stone set at the top. It was a either a rather large garnet or ruby. Well, no wonder his grandmother had been so adamant about him not showing it to anyone. If that thing was a ruby, it was probably worth a fortune. Tugging it on over his neck, he tucked it under his t-shirt and picked up the small piece of parchment.

_Jun, this is for you. If you're ever in a pinch, hold up the key and recite this:_

_**Guardian from beyond the Gates of Time,**_

_**I entreat thee,**_

_**Open the way so I might pass,**_

_**And go to where I need to be.**_

_Memorize it and get rid of this paper._

---

Rei Hino boarded the subway on her Monday morning commute to her part time job. The train was as crowded as ever. There wasn't even room for her to read that new trashy romance novel she had picked up the other day to help keep her mind off her break up with Yuichiro.

It had been about a week now, and it still felt fresh. This annoyed her to no end, especially because her grandfather was trying everything in his power to make her feel better with the results almost always ending in a backfire. She was grateful that he cared, but his latest plans to introduce her to the son of a prominent family that he knew wasn't going to make her feel better. And the bastard who was snaking his arms around her waist had better knock it off or she was going to show him a whole new world of pa-

"Hi hi Rei!" Said a chipper girl's voice.

Rei looked down at the manicured and very feminine hands around her waist and turned in surprise to find Minako resting her chin on Rei's shoulder. Minako smiled, letting go of her friend and tipped a small salute.

"Minako! What are you doing here?"

Minako beamed. "I'm taking the train home from visiting my aunt. Fancy meeting you here!"

"Same to you! How was your aunt's place?"

"Just ducky!" She blew a kiss and tossed that mass of blond hair over her shoulder. "She's coming down in August so I'm pretty stoked. Where are you off to?" Minako had a tendency to mix and match slang that was trendy between ten and eighty years ago, but never managed anything current despite how religiously she followed the media.

"Well, you know that job at Westwood's in Aoyama we all applied for?" Rei grinned, watching Minako's expression go from cheerfully surprised to pure shock.

"Oh my gosh! You got the position? Darnit, I'm just working retail."

Rei huffed. "Well technically so am I, but not for minimum wage." She teased, patting a pouty Minako's head. "There, there."

"Oh you are a big meany sometimes, Rei. Hey hey, can I come see you at work today? I don't start my job until Thursday, so..."

"Sure thing! I'll be happy for the company."

"Sounds groovy. Dad's letting me borrow the car today. What time do you get off?"

"Five thirty sharp. Why?" Rei asked, wondering why Minako wanted a specific time.

"I'll give you a ride, you silly goose! You want to go the dinner party Makoto and Ami are throwing, don't you?"

Rei stamped her foot. "Oh bloody hell, that's tonight? I totally forgot."

"Well it's a darn good thing we bumped into each other. I'll be by at five with Usagi so we can loiter around the place. Crud, this is my stop!" She threw her arms around Rei's shoulder and gave a quick hug. "Have a good day at work, hun! I'll see you later!"

"Bye Minako! Say 'hi' for me to Usagi if you see her! Bye bye!"

She watched Minako waving from the train ramp, long after the doors shut and she was receding into the distance.

She was still down about Yuichiro, but the world always seemed a little brighter after a dose of Minako's particular brand of cheer.

It also cleared her mind enough for her ESP to kick in and the feeling that something was horribly, dreadfully, terribly wrong settled in her stomach.

_...Oh damn._

---

_Everything has a story. Everything has a beginning, a middle, and an end, and from every end comes a new beginning. Things change, but they change in patterns._

_This story is just beginning, and it begins on a precipice._

_Now, this place could be anywhere, but it was a very specific somewhere (or, in fact, nowhere if you want to be technical about it). You couldn't find it on any map because, for all intents and purposes, it didn't exist. It was outside the universe, and since the universe is, near as dammit infinite, this place was not real._

_At least not physically, anyway._

_It was a place to view the Universe. It was somewhere (for those someone's that knew how) to come and observe the fall of every rock, the spin of every star and to ensure that things happened (or ceased to happen as the case may be). It was a vantage point where the particularly skilled could organize the Universe and keep everything tidy. Couldn't have the wrong galaxies colliding because that would cause no end of trouble._

_The precipice was quite high up and went on forever in every direction except the one where it came to a very abrupt and vertical end. They called it 'The Cliffs'. Below, the infinite space glowed as a brilliant red and orange web of light in the deep abyss of black. Above... well, people tried not to look at where the sky should have been._

_The Cliffs were made of a sort of stone; solid, black and semi-translucent. Perhaps it was a sort of obsidian, what with the pale spots speckling it. If one were a particularly astute observer with a keen eye for detail, you would find that these white spots were, in fact, severed human heads trapped in the stone like a hapless mosquito in prehistoric amber._

_This... observation deck if you will, was superimposed on the emptiness and it stood out like a bad special effect. _

_It was here that, like on the train, two old friends were reunited._

"_Things are getting out of hand." Said a voice. It was shortly followed by the appearance of a tall, feminine figure with dark green hair. "Something needs to be done before the blasted thing wakes up."_

"_Indeed." Came a reply and another figure formed out of the nonexistent air. This one was smaller, younger, but with a definite air of age around her. "I imagine that the right people have already picked up on something being off."_

"_Two of mine have, yes." Replied the taller woman._

"_One of mine picked it up in a dream. I also have those three on the look out for the first signs of trouble."_

"_Those three? Really? How are they... adapting?" A small, thin smile. She was clearly amused._

_The younger-looking girl sniffed. "Sixteenth century thinkers, the lot of them."_

"_I'm terribly sorry to hear that."_

"_Don't be. It's good for them to get out of the Youjakai and bicker with each other somewhere else; preferably 'somewhere else' being not my presence. Believe it or not, Rajura's taken quite a shine to computers. Said something about depth perception not being worth a damn in the digital world, whatever that means."_

"_Really now? I'm surprised. He was the one with the eye patch, I believe."_

"_Yes. Now, back to the matter at hand. How should we handle this?"_

_The taller figure pondered this for a moment. "I believe a collaborative effort on our part is in order, but I think it best to keep either team from actually meeting. Bear in mind that while the Senshi operate very well on their own, four of them have yet to graduate from post-pubescent induced 'boy-crazy' syndrome."_

"_Yes. As it stands, hormonal teens and 'world crisis' probably don't mix well. I believe it is a matter of 'I'll talk to my people, and you talk to yours' and we'll exchange notes on the sidelines."_

"_Splendid. I look forward to getting this squared away, Kayura. And after this whole matter is taken care of, you should drop by the Gates of Time for a spot of tea."_

_Kayura smiled at her taller companion. "Likewise Setsuna. And I'll be sure to take you up on that invitation. It's been far too long."_

_They exchanged bows, and vanished._

_Unfortunately, they just missed three lights shooting towards the milky way galaxy._

_---_

_End of Chapter 1_


	2. Chapter 2: Dead Fingers Talk

**Ghost Dance**

_Standard disclaimers apply. Neither series is mine, never will be. Fairy tales are property of the Brothers Grimm, Mother Goose, and the rest of the world. Props to anyone who can figure out my scheme for chapter titling. _

**Chapter 2: Dead Fingers Talk**

_The room shifted in and out of perspective, warped and skewed as if he were looking at it through the bottom of a bottle. Things whispered in the shadows, but whenever he turned to face the source of the sound, he only caught a glimpse of the darkness scattering away into cracks._

_The world soon filtered into focus, and the dirty marble tiles felt cold through the thin material of his dress socks. _

_His brow creased in confusion as he felt the darkness shuffle around him, kept at bay only by the flickering torches on the wall. He wondered vaguely what would happen if those flames went out. Turning, he took in the mountains of old junk, cluttering tables and shelves. It was hard to step around since the floor was full of old, rotting knick knacks. But there was that damn bed again!_

_Maneuvering through the miniature maze of neglected trinkets, he made his way to the moth eaten curtains. Through the holes, he could once again make out the figure of someone sleeping. Angry, he drew the curtains aside and what he found..._

_...was an empty bed._

_That couldn't be right. He had seen someone there! They had moved! ...And was the room getting dimmer?_

_Something cold grasped his hand from behind, just as the third of twelve torches was extinguished._

_**Don't turn around.** A child's voice ordered. His mind registered the words, but his ears swore they hadn't heard it. Great. Telepathy._

_Five... Six torches went out. The darkness was closing in._

_He looked down. A small hand gripped his. It was pale and the fingers were small, though the nails were long and not well cared for. Almost claw-like. And they dug into his skin as if the child were holding on for dear life. He felt a burning sensation where the child's thump was digging into his palm._

_Eight..._

_**I am the Prophet of Ruin. I have no other name to go by, as it has been stolen along with my soul. **_

_Nine. He could feel the darkness shiver with anticipation. He tried to ignore the whispering._

_**Show that mark to the one that got away. **_

_Ten... Eleven... He hoped that roar was the sound of the wind, but he knew it was a futile hope._

_**We will meet again. Now... Wake up.**_

_Twe-_

"Wake up! Come on man, wake up!" Shuu's voice. He sounded worried. He could hear a lot of hustle and bustle going on around him. Where was he?

Seiji cracked his eyes open, and immediately shut them. Too bright! He could feel the heat of sunlight on his face, and the too-soft couch cushions holding his weight.

"Seiji?" Touma's voice. "You okay?"

Shielding his eyes from the mid morning light pouring in through the windows, Seiji managed to half-open his eye not covered by his hair.

"What happened?" His throat felt dry, and his voice came out scratchy.

"You were sitting around just fine eating breakfast and then you started having this fit, like a seizure or something. Then you collapsed and muttered a lot of stuff and- Jesus, what the hell happened to your hand?" Touma grasped Seiji's wrist. Streaks of red trickled down, splattering on the floor.

"...Uh?" Seiji's eyes had finally adjusted to the sudden brightness. There were four crescent shaped cuts on the back of his hand, as if someone had dug their nails into his skin. Tugging his hand away, Seiji examined the wounds himself. Yes, that was definitely the same hand that the child in his dream had taken. Turning his hand over, he was even more surprised as to what he found on the palm.

A strange, ornate and triangular knot, the head of some great cat (like a panther or a lioness) at each point. It was a small, black mark. No bigger, in fact, than a child's thumb.

Seiji closed his fingers over the mark before anyone could see. He didn't know what it meant.

"Can I get some bandages and disinfectant please?" He asked, sitting upright.

"I'll go." Shin volunteered, and hurried off to the bathroom medicine cabinet.

Nasuti sat down, composed as could be in the recliner. Seiji could tell she was worried though, because her mouth had gone into a very thin line and she'd furrowed her brow the way she normally did when she was confronted with a complicated technical problem.

"Seiji, is there something you'd like to tell us?"

He felt four eager pairs of eyes on him- five when Shin returned with bandages, peroxide and a few cotton balls.

"Well," Seiji began, "It started with a dream I had last night..."

---

_Once upon a time, the Forgotten Forest wasn't such an evil place. Its trees were a shield for the outcasts of society. A band of good thieves lived in an area near Sherwood, robbing from an evil king. Witches, gypsies and werewolves took to the deep woods as a sort of sanctuary for as long as the forest had been there._

_It was a safe place for anyone, as long as you knew the way to your destination. If you didn't, the forest would swallow you._

_It started on the day of the summer solstice festival in a small village. Little Red Riding Hood had come of age and danced her first dance around the maypole. After the festival, her parents asked her that she take a basket of some of bread, wine, cheese and fresh fruit to her grandmother who lived in the forest. She had been feeling unwell as of late, and a visit from her granddaughter would be a pleasant surprise._

_Red Riding Hood knew the way through the woods. She had never gotten lost and she was seldom confused._

_But the forest was different that day. Something had crawled out of the darkest caves and had cast its shadow on the massive trees. It had shed its darkness on the guard of the forest; a massive gray wolf who would devour those who lost their way or sought to bring harm on the forest's inhabitants. The wolf, once king of the forest who had been revered as wise and strong, was now nothing more than a slobbering beast; hellbent on devouring the flesh of the innocent. His wisdom turned to a cruel cunning, his fur that once smelled of the earth now reeked of blood and death. He reveled in slaughter, rather than hunting only for what was needed._

_He was the first to be taken._

_On this day, Red Riding Hood walked unawares of the forest's change. The first person she met on her trip was an elderly woodcutter who always wore a sad expression. She gave him a quick greeting but did not stay to chat. The next person she met was Witch Hazel, a young apprentice to the Witch in the Western Woods. She was a very pretty, plump and pink young lady who had once worked as a milk maid and midwife. She was carrying a sack filled with baking ingredients._

"_Good afternoon, Riding Hood," Greeted the young witch. "Fancy a bit of gingerbread? My master has been eating nothing else as of late."_

"_No thank you, Hazel. I must hurry to Grandmother's before it gets dark."_

"_Very well, very well." Said the witch, tapping her rosy cheeks. "I do say, the air of the forest has changed a bit. It's best we both hurry!" And they said their goodbyes and went their separate ways._

_The third person Red Riding Hood met was the wolf. Unaware of his change, Red Riding Hood greeted him with the respect he commanded._

"_Good afternoon, Mister Wolf. I am off to my grandmother's house today. Would you mind letting me pass?"_

_The King of the Forest, so often polite and genteel, simply stared at her with eyes that burned red as sunset._

"_Mister Wolf?"_

_Silence reigned for a moment. The wolf could not attack because Red Riding Hood knew her heart and knew her way. He stood aside instead and decided to wait for an opportunity when the girl would become lost._

_When the girl was out of sight, he took a shortcut to her grandmother's house. During the day, the old woman had died. _

_Draining her blood into a bottle, and slicing her up, the wolf left the meat and blood on the table and sat on the old woman's bed, wrapping himself in an illusion._

_Red Riding Hood was not long to arrive. She knocked, and a croaky voice granted her entrance._

"_Good day, grandmother! I brought you food from the festival, and my if you don't sound dreadful!"_

_The wolf smiled. The illusion had worked! Doubt had entered the girl's heart._

"_I am glad you came, my darling Red Riding Hood. There is some meat and wine on the table for you. Please, eat and drink your fill."_

_Red Riding Hood hesitated, but it had been a long time since she had meat and wine. So she took a slice of her grandmother's breast and poured a glass of her grandmother's blood. She ate and drank under the watchful gaze of the wolf._

"_Whore!" Said a small bird from the window, "She who eats the flesh and blood of her family will die in darkness!"_

_It was then that the illusion faltered and Red Riding Hood saw the meat and wine for what it really was. Dropping it, she was suddenly quite sick._

"_Oh dear," simpered the wolf. "You must feel terrible! Here, come rest with grandmother." He did not know she had seen through the illusion, nor did he notice when she took a knife from the counter and hid it in the fold of her apron. Climbing in to bed with the wolf, she gave him a critical look._

"_Goodness grandmother," she said, feeling rage burning in her heart. "What big ears you have!"_

_The wolf frowned. Was his power over her fading? "The better to hear you with, my dear child."_

"_And what big eyes you have!" She continued, her hand moving to the hilt of the knife._

"_Oh child, the better with which to see your beautiful face!"_

_And now Red Riding Hood knew the wolf for what he was. Vengeance burned in her chest, and she tugged the knife free under the cover of the blanket. "And such large teeth!"_

_The wolf knew he'd been had. Rounding on the girl, he opened his great maw. "All the better to crush your bones!"_

_He was stopped just short of eating her when she held the knife to his throat. _

"_What a large knife you have," the wolf snarled, backing away._

"_The better to gut you with," she replied. She was shaking, but she had put a bit of distance between herself and the wolf._

"_We shall see," said the beast, shadowy tendrils emerging from his body as he lunged._

_No one is sure what happened after that. Some believe that Red Riding Hood killed the wolf and ran away. Others believe the wolf ate her. In any case, all that was found in the house was a lot of blood and on the floor in a puddle of red, was a small tin locket._

_The woodcutter recognized it as the locket his dead wife had given to his daughter._

_---_

Hotaru shut the book, and examined the cover closely. She was perplexed to say the least. She was sure that wasn't how the story went. Hadn't the woodcutter come and cut the girl out of the wolf's stomach?

Something seemed very wrong and she couldn't place her finger on it. On top of that, Michiru needed to talk to them all about something she'd seen in the mirror.

Things were not looking good.

A ring at the doorbell interrupted her thoughts though, and Hotaru hurried to the door, nearly bowling over a sauntering Haruka.

"Auntie Puu!" Hotaru had adopted Chibiusa's nickname for Setsuna who was now standing outside the door, elegant as always in a long black button down dress.

"Hotaru, I heard you did very well on your last report card," remarked the Guardian of Time, kneeling so that she was eye level with Hotaru. Hotaru in turn threw her arms around Setsuna's neck.

"I'm happy to see you!"

Setsuna gave a small laugh, unsure how to respond to the affectionate surrogate daughter of her two closest teammates. She wasn't exactly the best person to put in these kinds of situations.

"Well, I know what will make you happier. I have a surprise for you with me."

Hotaru seemed perplexed by this. "A surprise, Auntie Puu?"

Setsuna nodded and cast a glance over her shoulder. "Small Lady?"

Hotaru's dark eyes widened with shock as Chibiusa, her first and very best friend emerged from behind Setsuna. She had worn her hair down (probably so it wouldn't stick out from the sides and give away the surprise too soon) and Diana, the small gray kitten was peeking out of a pink, plastic heart shaped handbag.

"Ch... Chibiusa..."

"Hotaru!" Chibiusa cried, unable to contain her joy as she hugged her friend around the middle. "I missed you!" The pink haired girl whimpered as they exchanged hugs.

"I'm so glad to see you!" Hotaru exclaimed, equally overjoyed. She hadn't seen Chibiusa since the girl had left after the incident with Nehelania.

"Hey, squirt," Haruka greeted from the doorway, grinning. She known Setsuna's little plan. "Nice to see you're not wearing your hair in those little horns."

Chibiusa stuck her tongue out at Haruka. "At least mine doesn't stick up funny in the front." She retorted. She had warmed up a fair bit to the two Outer Soldiers now that they weren't trying to kill her best friend.

"Right, right, sugar devil." Haruka teased. "Hey Setsuna, how you doing?"

"Quite well, and yourself?"

"Just great. Why are we all standing outside? Come on in everyone! Michiru's in the kitchen. I'll go in and take over so she can come say 'hello'."

"That would be lovely, thank you." Setsuna said as Haruka bustled off.

Chibiusa and Hotaru were chatting excitedly, catching up on what one another had been doing during their time apart. Setsuna meandered over to the fireplace mantle where there were several framed photographs. Car rides, beach trips, birthday parties, Christmas mornings, school plays... Setsuna smiled to herself. Michiru and Haruka were young, but they were doing everything that parents should be doing with their kid. It probably helped that Michiru was a concert violinist and Haruka's parents were quite rich. She picked up a photograph of all eleven of them, standing outside a café.

There were bad, painful memories. The constant battles, the sacrifices that had been made, and the horrors they had all faced... But looking back at eleven smiling faces, Setsuna knew every struggle had been worth it. She set the photo back down, almost reverently, as Michiru came out into the living room drying her hands with a towel.

"Setsuna!" She greeted with a hug and a peck on the cheek. "I'm glad you could make it and-" She stopped dead in her tracks, taken off guard by the pink haired girl sitting on her couch trying to get her hair back up in it's usual style. "You weren't kidding," she remarked, giving Setsuna a stunned look.

"I never do," Setsuna said, truth ringing in every word. Setsuna's sense of humour was on par with that of a teaspoon.

"Hi Michiru!" Chibiusa greeted as Hotaru tried futilely to help tie up her hair. They soon just settled on pigtails.

"Chibiusa, it's good to see you're doing well! We'll leave you two alone to catch up for a bit, okay?"

"Yup!" The two girls affirmed simultaneously, and Michiru led Setsuna to the kitchen.

"Are you sure this is wise?" Michiru asked, keeping her voice low while Haruka chopped vegetables up for the salad. "Bringing Small Lady here? The mirror has been showing me things recently, and I'm sure they're signs of impending danger."

Setsuna gave this it's due consideration. "I don't doubt the decision I've made."

"You never do," Haruka interjected. "And it's gotten you killed twice."

Setsuna smiled at this. "Let's stick to the topic at hand. Yes Michiru, I am aware that something is approaching. This isn't the first time it's broken loose either."

Michiru sat down, expression grim. "Is it a threat we've dealt with before, like Nehelania? Galaxia?"

"No." Setsuna replied firmly. "It's something much older. It isn't a person or a living thing. I have seen it dealt with once before during my span as a Time Guardian, but it has been kept at bay by others like myself."

"More Sailor Soldiers?" Michiru asked, bemused.

"No. Other Guardians of the Gates of Time. Those that came before me."

Haruka left the salad so she could sit and listen. It wasn't often that Setsuna offered any kind of information about herself, much less anything dealing with the mysteries behind the Gates of Time.

Setsuna was aware of their rapt attention. She decided to keep this brief. "We call the thing Big Bad Wolf, or usually just 'Big Wolf'. It is, essentially, the collective fears and hatreds of the human conscious. A sign of its approach is the appearance of things we call 'Withers'."

"Withers?"

Setsuna nodded. "They are like the Big Wolf but on a smaller scale."

Michiru gave an impatient huff. "Well, what are they? What do they look like? What do they do?"

"A Wither is the very incarnation of nothingness. They have no soul, no consciousness. The soul of anything they touch is absorbed into them, leaving only a faceless, empty shell." Setsuna explained, running her hand through her hair irritably. "We've fought two Wither's already. Massive ones. Pharaoh 90 and the Black Dream Hole. Unfortunately, I did not recognize their presence as a sign of Bad Wolf's awakening. I thought they were mere anomalies, since they were very carefully catered to. I was alerted to Bad Wolf by another with far sharper observational skills."

"I remember Pharaoh 90 and the Black Dream Hole," Haruka remarked, and mentally added _How in god's name could I forget?_ "They spoke. They had a consciousness."

Setsuna nodded. "Yes. Home grown Withers. They are what happens when you give a Wither enough souls or very powerful souls. They form an... intelligence of a sort. But they are limitless emptiness. All they can feel is a constant hunger. They're a mockery of life, and making them aware of that is only worse because they're no longer a random threat but a very calculating and dangerous menace. Often they have borderline omniscience."

"Right," Michiru stated. "We've fought these things and won. We'll fight this Big Wolf thing and be done with the whole horrid affair."

Setsuna shook her head. "It isn't that simple. Big Wolf will not attack you like a common Wither. It will come at you sideways, trap you in an illusion and when your guard is down..." She made a terrifying gesture. "Snatch your soul clean out of your body."

"So what do we do?" Haruka demanded. "How do we destroy it?"

"You don't. All we can do is push it back, the same way we did with Pharaoh 90. And the way we do that is find where it's going to strike from first and stop it."

Haruka made an incomprehensible sound of agitation. "That's it?"

"That's all we can do. I would like to alert the other Sailor Soldiers this evening if possible."

Michiru nodded. "I'll give Rei a call after lunch, and see if we can all meet at the temple."

---

_In the gloom of the forest, something stirred. It had taken the wolf as a sort of passing fancy, a whim if the thing could in fact, have whims. It wanted to send a message. It said 'give up. Neither Princes nor Paupers will be exempt. I'll take everything and destroy it.'_

_Dark, thorny tendrils spread out over the forest, wrapping themselves around the trees and choking the life out of them. But it soon came to a shuddering halt. It was sluggish because it had been dormant for a long, long time. It couldn't afford to spread itself too thin yet._

_No... it would wait. This part of the forest could provide it with substantial souls._

_Mock Turtle sat on Gryphon's back as the great wings beat to keep them airborne. Below them, a large section of the forest's green canopy turned to a dead grayish brown._

"_Are you sure she got the message out?" Mock Turtle asked, watching as their home withered away. It was hard to hold back the tears._

"_Yes," said Gryphon sadly, clicking his beak before settling into a glide and circling the dead part of the forest. "She was swallowed up, but she made sure she gave him the mark and the way to reach our contact in that world. Help **will** come." His tone was resolute. There was no room for argument._

"_But will it come in time?" Mock Turtle replied, skeptical as ever._

"_Ah." Gryphon clicked his beak again, as they rode a thermal into the air and then started flying north. "That's the real question."_

"_She said when they come, they'll arrive at the circle."_

"_Then it's to the circle we go. And we will hope."_

---

Touma fidgeted idly with a small hole in the chair. The room had gone deathly quiet after Seiji had finished his explanation.

No one was looking at anyone else.

"Are you sure?" Leave it to Nasuti to break the silence. But Touma had to hand it to her. The woman had guts. She didn't have any mystic mumbo-jumbo powers, but she had stood right along side them even in the most rigorous battles. "Are you absolutely positive the dreams were a sign?" There was just a bit of hope in her voice, that Seiji would sit up, smile and say "Sorry, just pulling your leg!"

He didn't. He just lay there, quite still and stared at his bandaged hand. "Regular dreams don't leave wounds." He sat up slowly, kneading at his temple. The darkness in that dream... it had seemed almost solid and then the sudden sunlight on his face had left him with a throbbing headache. He couldn't shake the feeling that he had seen something he shouldn't have.

"I need to go upstairs and lie down for a bit. My head is killing me and I can't think straight."

"Now just hold on a second-" Shuu started but Shin raised a quieting hand.

"We understand," he said as Shuu sat down again, albeit rather grudgingly. "We'll just end up talking ourselves in circles. The threat isn't immediate so the best course of action would be to discuss the matter when we can think straight. I'm sure we are all in agreement?" He directed the last bit at his impulsive friend, who looked away with an irritated huff.

Seiji gave a grateful nod, and headed upstairs for some peace and quiet while the onsetting migraine went away.

Ryo watched him go, brow knit in concern as Shin headed off in silence to the kitchen to go clean up.

"I'm going for a walk," Touma said flatly, getting up. "I'll be back in an hour." There were no objections.

By the time the front door had shut, Nasuti was at her computer looking up everything she could on the fairy stories Seiji had seen in his dream. Shuu had headed off to the kitchen to help Shin, and Ryo was left alone with his thoughts.

Who had the child in the dream been? It couldn't have been Kayura, and Seiji said it hadn't sounded like Suzunagi when Touma suggested the idea. All they had to go on was 'The Prophet of Ruin'. That didn't sound too promising.

And _fairy tales_? More perplexing was the fact that they were western fairy tales. Well, his father had read him some stories out of a battered old Japanese translation of The Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson. And there had been something wrong with the stories, as if the author had been trying to describe something they had really seen but couldn't quite understand. Certainly there were exaggerations, and the handsome prince had been added as a sort of way to make it more acceptable to children. But beneath that, it had felt like there was some kind of truth...

Ryo rubbed his forehead with the palm of his hand. He wasn't getting anywhere like this! But what else could he really do?

Well, maybe Seiji could do with a quick headache cure.

---

Seiji was seeing double by the time he made it to the landing. He felt sick and dizzy, and his headache had set in to all an all out migraine. Staggering to his room, he fumbled with the doorknob.

Something was whispering in his head and it _hurt._ Seiji was no stranger to pain, but this was excruciating. It was definitely not a regular headache. Regular headaches didn't whisper things in your brain, or try to plant suggestions to kill your friends. Fantastic. He was hearing voices. Pushing open the door, he squinted against the light pouring in through the windows.

He hadn't noticed the glass shoe on his bed or the note.

He didn't make it that far before he blacked out.

---

Ryo nearly dropped the glass of water and the two aspirin tablets when he saw the unconscious figure sprawled face down on the floor.

Today was not Seiji's day, he thought kneeling down beside his friend and propping him up.

"Seiji?" Ryo called to his friend. He was half ready to panic. Was Seiji all right? Well, obviously not. He was unconscious for the second time that day, probably after God only knows what had been communicating with him again. Attempting to be rational (never his strong suit) Ryo tried to think what he should do next. Splashing water on Seiji's face probably wouldn't help. He might inadvertently drown him or something.

Oh wait, he had started muttering! Okay, so he was alive. Ryo gave a small exhale of relief. He probably shouldn't leave the poor guy on the floor. Scooping him up (and vaguely wondering if Seiji was going a little heavy on the pumpkin jam), he carried him to the neatly made bed where he faced another dilemma.

The bed was occupied.

By a woman's glass shoe which Ryo had failed to notice coming in on account of his friend being unconscious.

He couldn't put Seiji down on the bed because he might break the shoe and he couldn't move it because his hands were currently full of Seiji. Well, Seiji was just going to have to borrow Shin's bed. After setting down his blond friend on the Finding Nemo comforter, Ryo picked up the glass slipper and the small piece of parchment attached to it. It seemed weird that Seiji would have something like this. He knew Seiji spent even more time in the bathroom grooming himself than Nasuti, but this was going a little overboard. Unfolding the paper, Ryo struggled with the loopy, cursive handwriting. It was in English. He could speak it passably, but it had never been his strongest subject.

He turned the note over, hoping for some good ol' fashioned Kanji or Hiragana. No such luck. He'd have to struggle with the English.

Frowning, he ran his fingers over each line.

"_Tah-kay... Take this to..." _an address was scribbled out. He'd read that later. _"Ask for Cindy. Be sure to kill the rat among the mice."_

Baffled, he read the note again. It could have been a simple mistake. After all, he'd never been much good with languages. It was a miracle he could read it at all.

But as far as he could tell, he had read it correctly. Cindy? Rats? He'd have to show it to Shuu or Seiji. Both were much better at English than he was.

He picked up the glass slipper and turned it over in his hands. It was small, almost perfectly transparent except where the light shone on the contours. It didn't seem entirely real.

He was so transfixed, it took him a while to notice that Seiji had stirred from his fitful bout of unconsciousness. But by then, Seiji's hands were already around his throat.

---

"Let's face it," Yaten said, throwing his hands up in frustration. "We're lost."

"We aren't lost," Said Seiya. "Taiki just screwed up the navigation."

"In my defense, you were being rather distracting the entire way." Taiki pointed out, pushing aside an overhanging wall of leafy vines. "Prattling on and on; 'Are we there yet? Are we there yet?' At least we made it to the right planet. The way you were going on, I nearly landed us on the sun."

"Oh hush. You could have just ignored me like you always do. Man, it's going to be tough getting used to having a-"

Yaten silenced Seiya with an unpleasant look. It was look that said he was thinking the same thing and he'd frankly rather not have to.

"Kakyuu sent us as envoys. It is advisable that the two of you conduct yourselves in a way that is becoming of the dignity of Kinmoku." Taiki warned, feeling a vein throb in his temple. "In other words Seiya, I will wash your mouth out with soap if I must."

Seiya and Yaten exchanged glances.

"So just how far are we from the rendezvous spot?" Yaten asked, stepping over a moldy old log.

"I have no idea," Taiki sounder rather irritated. "Hence why we are 'lost'."

"We're not lost!" Seiya snapped. "Just... misplaced."

"We've probably missed the rendezvous..." Taiki lamented. He produced two small, thin machines from his breast pocket. "The Galactic Positioning System is getting too much interference as well. We're too close to Big Wolf's source."

Yaten's mouth curved into a frown. "So it's made it to Earth?"

Taiki gave a grim nod. "Yes. But it could be skulking around any kind of pocket space or dimension."

Seiya snatched the other little machine from Taiki, and flipped the lid open. "Let's see what the guide says?"

"Not much," Taiki replied sullenly, trying to get the little machine back from Seiya with no luck. "I checked before we left." He sagged back in defeat as Seiya jabbed at the keypad. A small window came up on the screen and he g lowered at the whole three lines of text. Three lines of text that didn't make sense.

_**Big Bad Wolf**_

_Sky Boat in Heaven_

_Three Swords for Three Graves_

_Open Death's gate_

Seiya snapped the lid down in frustration and thrust the machine back at Taiki who took it and slipped it back in his breast pocket.

"Satisfied?" He asked as they continued to trek through the forest.

"No." Seiya huffed, kicking at a rock.

---

_It lurked just beyond the shadows, slithering over dead leaves and plants, feeding off their tiny souls. It was weak. Very weak. But a forest was full of life and old souls. This could be both detrimental and the key to its continued existence. Depending on if it played its cards right, of course. ...If it knew what cards were._

_The trees had sensed its presence. It could feel their roots moving. These woods... they weren't the Forgotten Forest; a source of great power. But this one was still substantially old. And things... powerful things were present among the foliage._

_Three up ahead, and another not far off either._

_It moved slowly, silently, and the only things able to acknowledge its existence could not give warning that any human could hear._

_When it was only a few yards away from the bickering trio, it attacked._

_---_

"May I see your license and registration papers?" Said the dutiful officer to the driver of the car he'd caught swerving down the interstate. When he saw the vehicles three occupants, he was almost immediately suspicious. They looked like criminals. They had a certain skulking, criminal look about them. One had white hair and an eye patch. The driver looked scruffy with a scar over his eye and wore a permanent disgruntled expression. The one in the back seemed almost reptilian, and not just because of his green hair. The snake was snickering at the scar's misfortune, as eye patch struggled with the dashboard before finally producing the papers. Grudgingly, the scar handed him the requested papers and license and the officer flipped through them.

"Everything seems in order here," the officer sounded skeptical. "Sir, have you been drinking?"

"_No._" The scar retorted, looking ever more agitated.

"Please step out of the vehicle, sir. I'd like to conduct a breath test." Said the officer not looking up from his note pad. This was an all too familiar routine, and he hoped he'd be off traffic duty soon. The chief was pretty rough when it came to penalties. He ignored the giggle from the snake.

---

Anubisu thumped the wheel as he drove away from the officer with a ticket in his pocket and a half-hearted warning not to pull that swerving stunt again or he'd have his license revoked and car impounded. Naaza had thankfully stopped his giggle fit and had gone back to staring blank faced out the window. Rajura just seemed mildly amused and smug. Thankfully, he was keeping it to himself.

Anubisu cursed. He cursed this infernal contraption called an automobile and all its ancestors. He cursed that smug grin on Rajura's face and all his ancestors too. He cursed the fact that, reformed or not, Naaza still irritated the hell out of him. He spared a few curses for Naaza's ancestors as well, especially the one who had the loins that damn lizard man had sprung from and didn't have the decency to drown him while she had the chance.

And he especially cursed Kayura. Oh how he cursed her. And her ancestors (and their ancestors too).

It had started about three weeks ago. Kayura had ever so sweetly suggested that they spend a little time away from the Youjakai. She said to consider it some overdue vacation time. All expenses paid, plus driving lessons.

Vacation. Right. At least back in the Youjakai he didn't have to share a room with Rajura in a cramped little apartment which became all the more cramped because Naaza kept buying various snakes and lizards at the pet store down the road. He didn't keep them in their tanks either. Anubisu had woken up one morning to the disturbing sensation of a particularly large boa slithering up his trouser legs. Naaza had justified it as the snake was looking for a warm place to stay. Rajura had declared the snake a chronic pervert and that it was hellbent on getting into Anubisu's pants.

Anubisu was wondering vaguely just who was getting the vacation.

He was getting the hang of driving the car, that was for sure. Hell, it could even be something enjoyable were it not for the other two occupants.

These were Anubisu's thoughts before he was taken completely by surprise by three women with ponytails and dressed all in black leather bikinis who had emerged suddenly from the trees alongside the road. One of them threw a beam of light behind her at a massive shadowy creature that had sprung from the foliage. It was a big, shapeless thing. Several golden arrows were stuck in.

He knew those arrows!

Hitting the breaks, the car came to a swerving halt at the side of the road just as Touma emerged, notching another arrow and taking aim at the creature.

"Is that the... geh, what's his face..." Naaza sought in the depths of recollection for the name.

"Touma." Rajura replied, getting out of the car. Traffic on the roads came to a screeching halt as people abandoned their cars, running in terror from the road that had now become a battlefield.

"Think we should help?" Naaza asked. He was itching for a fight.

"I suppose we should." Anubisu conceded, a streak of light whizzing past and singeing his dark hair.

---

End of Chapter 2

**Author's Note:** Hello chaps! Just dropping in to say 'que pasa' and all that. My muse has been gnawing on my head (I swear I locked her in the damn bathroom) with the idea for this story for about a month now since I started playing Shuu in a game. The next chapter is shaping up to be a long one. I'm trying to stay consistant with the canon of both series but it's been a while since I've seen both all the way through. Wikipedia has provided me with a few good refreshers, but like anyone, I'm prone to error. If you see some kind of inconsistency, feel free to point it out. Or just pass it off as slightly AU. Either works.

**To NovaB:** Thank you for the review! I'm glad your liking this (and you should finish your fic because holy cripes I am totally addicted to your writing style:3)


	3. Chapter 3: Fragmentation

**Ghost Dance**

_Warnings for this Chapter: Violence, cursing, Jun not being portrayed as an obnoxious brat, Original Characters that don't have any romantic interest/relation/past with any canon characters (z'omfgwhataconcept), long ass mo'fo of a chapter ahead, some shounen ai/shoujo-ai implications (what? This is a Sailormoon crossover. Or did you expect me to write Michiru and Haruka as cousins?--), fairy tale rewrites, your mother._

_Author's notes: I defy you pants! Also, thank you to everyone who's read and reviewed. I am happy you're enjoying this, and hope I can keep meeting up to your expectations._

_That is all._

_---_

"_No paltry fool forgets the Big Bad Wolf_

_For he lingers evermore on the brink of your darkest dreams_

_He haunts the shadows and waits in darkness_

_Until doubt enters your heart and you know not the forest from the trees"_

_-Carmine Mantle_

**Chapter 3: Fragmentation**

Clouds started rolling in along with the lunchtime crowd. Rei was busy with ringing up a few customers, while Johnny Rotten blared 'God Save the Queen' over the speaker system in fully realized digital glory. Even at lunchtime in Aoyama's shopping district, things were slow at the small boutique. It was because everything there was so pricey, and the most of the business were high school girls coming in and voicing how much they wish they could afford to keep up with the latest trends. Occasionally there would be the parent who _could_ afford to indulge their child every once in a while. But for the most part Rei spent her time going through receipts, pricing merchandise, and clocking in the overtime while she waited for the second shift to come relieve her (a college senior who was always late). Tapping her manicured nails on the lacquered counter top in time to the song, Rei thought over the strange stabbing pangs of dread that had been haunting her throughout the day. Something was definitely off, and she couldn't put her finger on it. It felt... close. But all the while it seemed as tangible as smoke, and that irritated her, because where there was smoke, there was fire.

Her train of thought came to a crashing wreck when her cellphone resounded the theme to a TV drama she had been following until her favourite character's actor had left the show. She cursed, glad that the last customer had left. She was sure she had set the thing on vibrate.

Flipping the top up, she checked the name and number before answering.

"Makoto!" She chirped, sincerely glad to hear from her friend.

"Hi Rei, I heard you were working at Vivienne Westwood's," Makoto explained, her voice coming through the receiver with just a hint of static.

"Yeah, that's right. But I'll be over for dinner tonight. Minako caught me this morning and reminded me. She and Usagi are going to give me a lift."

Makoto laughed on the other end. "I know. She called me earlier. Anyway, Ami and I are in the area. We just picked up some shopping and were wondering when you get out on your lunch break?"

"Juuuuuust now." Rei said sidling up the door to put up the closed sign and turn the hands on a small clock face to indicate when she'd be back (an hour from the current time).

"Great! We'll be there in a few minutes. Meet us outside?"

Rei nodded, gathering up her purse. "Sure thing! I'll see you in a bit." She stepped outside into the summer humidity that was as thick as soup, locking the door behind her. The still air and bruise purple clouds on the horizon promised a storm in the near future.

"Yup! Bye bye!"

"Bye Makoto!"

She hung up and closed the lid on her phone, wiping a bit of sweat from her upper lip. She'd welcome some rain if it would quell this heat.

---

Makoto hung up with a resounding beep and stuffed the mobile in the front pocket of her handbag.

"I'm going out on a limb here and guess we're meeting Rei outside?" Ami asked, a wry grin on her deceptively sweet face.

Makoto gave her blue haired friend a sidelong glance and smiled. Once you pulled Ami out of her shy little shell, she was really quite a playful and funny person. "Oh really? What tipped you off, Sherlock?"

Ami smiled, and returned to staring out the window. She hadn't bothered with a witty retort, which Makoto knew meant there was something on the girl's mind. She left Ami to her thoughts as the used Toyota maneuvered down the winding city streets, its occupants sitting in companionable silence.

"Is Rei going to be be all right?" Ami finally asked.

Makoto shrugged. "She and Yuichiro were close. I'm not surprised she's kind of bent out of shape over the whole ordeal."

Ami fell into that thoughtful silence for a bit. "It's like you and that boy**."**

Makoto didn't know how to reply to this. Ami had a tendency to be uncomfortably honest at times.

"That was a long time ago." She finally settled on that as a decent reply. It was true too. So many things had changed since then. "Rei will pull through."

Ami smiled as the world rolled by, hot and muggy outside of their air conditioned shell. "You're strong people."

"We're all strong."

There was a dull growl of thunder from the horizon. Ami and Makoto didn't hear it.

---

Whatever the creature had been, it didn't fall. It dissolved. Wisps of shadow flew away on the breeze, tangible as smoke and leaving the seven victors in exhausted bewilderment.

Touma took off his helmet, wiping sweat from his brow. Question after question raced through his mind but where to begin? He glanced at the three armored Masho. What were they doing here? Then there were the three bondage gear-clad magical girls. Just who were they? And that... that _thing_. That blob of shadow. What had that been?

"Did we get it?" Asked the black haired dominatrix magical girl to the white haired one.

"No," Rajura interjected. "It's just moved. Found something better to go suck the life out of."

The tall brunette turned, her mouth turning down into a thin frown. "It's not that we don't appreciate your help, but just who are you?"

"I'd like to ask the same thing," Touma said with just a hint of irritation in his tone.

"Depends on who wants to know." The dark haired one retorted. At that, the woman with white hair threw her gloved hands up in exasperation.

"For God's sake, Star Fighter, way to talk us in circles!" She rounded on Touma, looking irritated at him for having to have asked the question. "We're the Sailor Starlights, and if what your one eyed friend says is true we really don't have time to stand around chatting."

Star Fighter rolled her eyes, and gave Touma a sympathetic look. She'd been at the receiving end of Yaten's foul moods on more than one occasion.

"Hold on," Anubisu raised his hand for silence. "You're the Starlights? As in the envoys from Kakyuu?"

"Depends on who's- OW!" Sailor Star Fighter began but Sailor Star Maker elbowed her pointedly in the ribs.

"I'll handle this since Star Fighter's sense of tact leaves much to be desired. And yes, we were sent by our Princess Kakyuu seeking aid from the Youjakai in regards to the reconstruction of Kinmoku."

Anubisu nodded. "Glad to finally meet you. Kayura speaks very fondly of Kakyuu."

"And visa versa. When will it be possible for us to meet with Kayura?"

Naaza gave a rather discrete cough to indicate he had something to say in regards to the matter. "I really hate to interrupt this touching moment, but don't we have somewhat more pressing matters on our hands? There's really no telling what kind of destruction a rampaging Wither can cause."

"Good point," Anubisu conceded.

"We can discus the matter in depth while we give chase."

Touma massaged his forehead as the conversation sunk in. "Look, I'm sure you six are having a jolly old time, but I really don't like being out of the loop, especially when something dangerous is running rampant. Would anyone mind filling me in?"

The Masho exchanged looks.

"I suppose it concerns the Troopers as well," Rajura said, scratching the side of his nose. He could hear the distant wail of sirens approaching the site of battle.

"We should go," Sailor Star Healer stated, "The last thing we need is inconvenient questions being fired at us."

"True. Let's take to the woods then. Less hassle that way."

---

Jun was disappointed when the child his age that answered the door turned out to be a pale, shy looking girl and not a boy. He mentally groaned, as his mother and father exchanged greetings and they were led inside where, to his further dismay, there was another girl who seemed around eleven with hair that made him hungry for cotton candy.

You see, Jun was at an age where girls were no longer feared as bringers of the cootie plague, but he wasn't quite to the age where they were suddenly and inexplicably interesting. He was at an age where the two sexes had formed a sort of begrudging truce to live and let live. Some of the bolder ones would go on 'dates'.

Jun felt mildly irritated by this turn of events and somewhat betrayed. In a way his parents had tricked him into coming under the pretense of making a friend that was his 'own age'. By that he thought a boy who would have a few things in common and possibly a game console. Not two preteen girls who would swoon and giggle about Hyde and Gackt, and pretend he didn't exist. It was shaping up to be a long, long evening.

Upstairs, something began to stir.

---

He could feel his pulse thundering in his ears, overpowering any other sound. His heart was trying to pump air that he just wasn't getting because Seiji's thumbs were pressing down on his windpipe.

_Crap crap CRAP! _Ryo thought. He couldn't yell for help. He barely managed to choke out Seiji's name and that had only made the blond press harder on his throat. But what frightened him the most was that it wasn't Seiji doing this. There was something unfamiliar about this man, what with the way he was smiling and his wide, unblinking eyes, round as a circle of Hell, blazed red. It looked like Seiji, but there were just too many things wrong. Seiji had never looked so manic, like some wild, angry dog who'd been beaten one too many times.

Ryo didn't know what to do. For the first time in his life, he didn't know what to do. Seiji was his friend, and something horrible had taken a hold of him. And he couldn't stop it! He couldn't speak. He couldn't even breathe. And the world around him was fading out of sight...

It was just so easy to give into the inevitable.

But he was jolted when something warm and wet fell on his cheek. Through the haze of approaching death, he could just make out Seiji's face. And the tears that were spilling from those red eyes.

He was still there. Somewhere, Seiji was still there and powerless to stop this thing.

Ryo felt groggy and weak, but he had to do something. Seiji needed help. And death by asphyxiation had never been at the top of his list of ways he wanted to depart from this world.

With the last of his strength, he gripped Seiji's wrists and pushed them up. The pressure on his throat relieved somewhat. Not much, but enough that he could draw a few ragged breaths and clear the fog clouding his eyes.

"Seiji," he gasped, "Whatever it is, fight it! I know you can. I'm here." He coughed, managing to push the hands further from his throat. With every breath he felt rejuvenated. "I'll help you, anyway I can."

"_Don't be a fool," _Something rasped, using Seiji's mouth. _"That child may have given him its mark of protection, but it did not push him away before I left my own mark on him. It's only a matter of time before he gives in and I swallow his soul."_

Ryo felt a throb of rage. The shadow in Seiji's dream... could this be it? "Son of a-"

"Talk."

Ryo was surprised. He shouldn't have been because, well, it was Seiji's voice speaking through Seiji's mouth. But it sounded far away.

That frightened him.

"I'm trapped, but I think I can find my way if I follow your voice."

Ryo's mind was racing, but he nodded as the raspy thing gave a snort of annoyance and struggled to get his hands around Ryo's throat again. But Seiji's wrists were grasped firmly now and Ryo had always been the physically stronger of the two.

"I'll keep yapping until you're back," he encouraged. But what should he say?

Well, he'd just go with whatever was on his mind.

"Once upon a time..."

_---_

_...There lived a child and her father. Her mother had died years back when the girl was quite small. Eventually, her father had remarried a middle aged widow with two lovely daughters. It was no secret that the widow had married the girl's father for his vast fortune. She had lost everything except her title as duchess from her last marriage to the tax collector and she was an extravagant spender. Therefore it really wasn't a surprise when the man turned up dead._

_The man's last will and testament handed the widow control over the household, but only under the circumstance that his own daughter be provided and cared for. Otherwise, the entire estate went to his daughter._

_Unfortunately, he had failed to specify what 'provided and cared for' meant, so his daughter remained in the home but she was forced to live lower than any servant in the manor. She wore rags and slept by the fire, earning her the title of Cinderella. Her stepmother gave her impossible tasks and beat her when they weren't completed. Her youngest stepsister often tormented her for the sake of her own amusement. Her eldest stepsister, a plump and pretty young lady who had been studying witchcraft in secret often took pity on Cinderella and used her meager magic to aid her where she could. _

_One night, an invitation had been sent out to all the women in the kingdom. They were invited to attend a ball, where they would be introduced to the prince. Even Cinderella had received an invitation, but her stepmother had quickly intervened._

"_You can go under the circumstance that you complete all your chores and have a dress ready. And remember, I want this manor spotless."_

_Hurt, but not dissuaded, Cinderella got to work. And all throughout the day, new messes would crop up. Her eldest stepsister Hazel did what she could, but she was reluctant to let her mother know she was helping._

_Cinderella worked all day and all night. But as the sun rose, she knew there was no hope. Even if she had started that very minute, there was no way she would have a dress ready by that evening._

_And how she wished to go, just to see if the stories about the castle were all true. To be a part of something, if only for a moment._

_Setting her resolve, she locked herself in the attic where she would work on a dress anyway. She couldn't forgive herself if she didn't try._

"_I'll help."_

_Cinderella was startled, but it was only Hazel. "You will?"_

_Hazel nodded. "I'll make you so beautiful, the prince will want to die."_

_Hazel was true to her word too. By the time the sun was sinking below the horizon, Cinderella had bathed and Hazel had used her magic to make the most elegant dress from the dirty old rags._

"_When we've left, go down to the pumpkin patch outside," Hazel explained. "A coach will wait for you there. You have until midnight, and then my magic will fade. And these..." she set a pair of glass slippers before Cinderella. "... These are pixie made. Should help your feet remember their old dancing lessons." She smiled, as her mother's voice called her name from downstairs._

"_Thank you Hazel," Cinderella said. She meant it._

"_Don't thank me. I'm not going to be here forever." She looked to her stepsister, her plump pink lips curved into a frown. "You should think about leaving as well."_

"_But-" Cinderella began to protest, but Hazel raised a quieting hand._

"_I know you loved your father, very much. And what my mother has done is unforgivable. But there is nothing left for you here."_

"_If I leave, they win." Cinderella said, and Hazel had never heard her sound so cold.. She would have said something else but there was no time. She hurried downstairs, wrapping herself in an illusion to make it seem as though she'd spent the day preening._

"_Ah, you are ready. Have you seen Cinderella?"_

_Hazel shrugged. "Last I saw she'd locked herself in the attic to have a cry." She lied, sweeping past her mother and sister._

"_Oh, the poor dear," Her mother laughed without remorse._

_Cinderella heard the door close before she hurried downstairs and out the back door into the garden. Waiting for her among the pumpkins was a pale white and gold coach drawn by silvery gray horses. Hazel had gone all out. It was a small wonder that the magic would only last until midnight._

_Oh well._

_She rode the coach all the way to the castle where the great hall was decorated with golden candles and a diamond chandelier hung from the ceiling. There were gilt vines decorating the vast marble pillars and a floor polished to such a shine it looked as though they were walking on a mirror. At the head of it all was a prince. He was the most handsome man in the room, but the way he looked down his nose at everyone in the room reminded Cinderella so much of her stepmother that she was repulsed. Still, she would enjoy a dance or two and perhaps something from the banquet._

_It was not long before the King had all the ladies in the room introduced to the prince. One man, a kind yet bumbling king from a nearby kingdom introduced his twelve daughter's who were, by far, the best dancers in the room. She saw her stepmother introduce her two daughters. The prince had raised a brow at the younger stepsister, the most interest he'd shown in any of the girls since the ball had started. And there was no doubt why. She was truly an exceptional beauty._

_Cinderella munched on a grape. They suited each other, she thought ruefully as she was ushered into the line by a guard. It was soon her turn, and she offered a polite curtsy to the prince, complimenting the party and all the while she wished she could just go back to dancing. There was a handsome guard she had been speaking with too..._

"_Young lady, where is your father?" Asked the king, perplexed as to why this girl was on her own._

"_He is in heaven, with mother." She said simply._

"_I see. And you are all alone?" She nodded, and the Prince was watching her in the most peculiar way, as if she had struck him across the face._

"_That is correct." She replied, giving the prince a baffled sidelong glance._

"_What is your name?"_

"_It's..." She froze. She couldn't remember her name. She had been 'Cinderella' for so long that she had no recollection of what she'd been called before._

"_Yes?"_

"_I..." She was suddenly startled by the toll of a bell. Midnight! On the the twelfth toll, the spell would be broken and she'd be revealed for what she was. With no other option to her, she ran. The Prince gave chase but Cinderella was swift and was out the front gate and hurrying down the stairs towards the street. She ducked down an alley, the frantic Prince running right by just as the twelfth bell tolled and her gown turned into a ragged dress._

"_This way," Said Hazel's voice. Cinderella could just make out her stepsister in the gloom of the alley as the older girl gripped her wrist and tugged her along through the night._

"_Where are we going?" Cinderella asked, her glass shoes now covered in mud from running through the winding streets. Hazel was silent until they reached the town square. She could hear voices from a search party. "Hazel?"_

_Hazel didn't look at her. Instead she tugged what seemed to be a key from the low cut of her dress collar. _

"_Forgive me."_

_She raised the key to the heavens, her grip on Cinderella's wrist tight to keep the struggling girl from running away. The air seemed to split in two, and Cinderella saw through the crack a city like none other. The buildings were made of stone and glass, and touched the very clouds. Yellow and red lights lit up the earth as if it were the night sky itself._

"_Hazel, what are you doing?!"_

_Wordlessly, Hazel shoved her stepsister bodily through the rip in space. _

_As the gate closed, she could still hear the echo of the girl frantically screaming her name. And all that remained was a single glass slipper, its surface glimmering even beneath all the mud._

_---_

"What are you reading?" Jun asked Hotaru, setting down the Gamecube controller as Chibiusa whooped and hollered her victory with Princess Peach over Samus.

Hotaru looked up, and shrugged. "Fairy tales." She remarked offhandedly. They could hear the laughter and chatter from their parents downstairs.

"Oh." Jun considered this. "Any good ones?"

Hotaru shrugged, looking over the page. She felt baffled by the books contents. "They're... different."

"Huh?" Jun was not expecting that as an answer. While Hotaru and Chibiusa weren't fawning over pretty boy celebrities, and had certainly proven to be fun company, Hotaru... disturbed him. There was something very not right about the girl, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

Hotaru gave him a long look. "Jun, do you know the story of Cinderella?"

Jun was surprised by this question. "Sure. Some girl living as a servant, gets a fairy godmother and goes to a ball, meets a prince and falls in love with him."

"How did it end?" Hotaru asked.

"Um... the clock struck midnight, she had to run away... Oh yeah, she dropped her glass shoe. Then the prince went around the kingdom looking for the girl by trying to see who the shoe fit. Then he found her and they got married and stuff."

Hotaru was quiet for a long time, which irritated Jun and intrigued Chibiusa.

"Hotaru, are you okay?" Chibiusa asked.

Hotaru shook herself and set the book down. "I'm always okay." She replied. "Besides," she teased, "I think it's my turn."

"Yeah, yeah," Jun relinquished the purple controller over to the dark haired girl as they switched spots. Out of curiosity, he picked up the book of fairy tales.

It was a ragged old thing Michiru had bought at a secondhand bookstore when she was in Junior High School and since then it had changed hands to Hotaru. The leather cover was bound with bits of tape and string. The corners were frayed, and the title was filled in with peeling gilt leaf. The author's name had been worn off, and the pages were brown with age.

He opened to where the frayed gold ribbon of a bookmark held the last page to Cinderella. The text was in English. He gave Hotaru an appraising look. Well, she did seem like she'd be intelligent. After all her room was full of bookshelves, overflowing with books. It looked like she read a lot, and judging by her paleness and how awkward she seemed around strangers, she probably didn't socialize much. It wasn't a surprise that she could speak and read English.

He looked down at the pages of the book and couldn't help but to feel a little sorry for her. She'd been adopted which probably meant she lost her parents. Or maybe she never knew them? Well, he wasn't about to pry on the matter.

He turned the worn and faded pages gently so as not to break the book. He couldn't read much of what was written, so he couldn't deduce why Hotaru had said the stories seemed strange. That was until he turned to a blank page.

And the words unfurled before his very eyes.

**Bogeyman**

_Who does not know_ _at least one story about the Bogeyman? They are a type of Wither that possesses the body of a human. But the Wither is a vile thing, that mutilates the body into something nearly unrecognizable. It waits in darkness so that it might feast on the flesh and souls of the innocent while they sleep. As a rule, they prefer the dark places, like the closet or the space under the bed._

"Hotaru," Jun asked, unable to take his eyes away from the faded brown ink winding its way over the pages. He didn't notice the thumping noises from the closet over the crashes and bangs of the video game.

"Hm?" Hotaru looked up from the game.

"What's wrong, Jun?" Chibiusa asked.

Jun turned the book so that the pages were facing Hotaru and Chibiusa, the game forgotten. Chibiusa made a small noise of surprise, and Hotaru's eyes widened with shock.

"Should it be doing that?" The thuds from the closet were louder now, and more pronounced. Hotaru took the book.

"_...The Bogeyman comes when the sun sets over the horizon or vanishes behind storm clouds. He hunts for the tender flesh of children and takes great pleasure in ripping them limb from limb. Watch out children. Ready or not, here I -_" Hotaru stood upright and looked at the closet. She had thought the noises were coming from the game. "Run. _Now_."

No sooner had she said it than the door burst open as if it had been kicked out. One of the hinges broke off and clattered to the floor. At first it seemed nothing was there. But then tendrils of a dark mist crept out, and a fog of shadow began to permeate the room.

Jun didn't think twice before he grabbed both girls by the hand. He had never felt such a wave of panic; not even when he thought Arago had killed Ryo. It was as if he was breathing in fear itself. Hotaru slammed the bedroom door shut behind them as they made their hasty escape, but before she did Jun cast a glance back at the room and caught a glimpse of something huge and horrible emerging from the closet with the mist.

They wound their way down the stairs and into the living room where Haruka and Michiru were passing around steaming cups of tea. Setsuna and Jun's grandmother had forgone tea in favour of taking a walk instead. They had yet to return.

"Mama, papa," Hotaru exclaimed breathlessly. Haruka set down the tea and exchanged an alarmed look with Michiru.

"What's wrong? The three of you look like you've seen a ghost!"

"Something came out of Hotaru's closet," Chibiusa explained in one shaky breath.

"It was like a black mist and then there was this sort of monster that lurched out!" Jun added.

There was a long silence, broken by Jun's father's laugh.

"Ha ha ha! What imaginations kids have. Aren't you three a bit old for monsters in the closet?"

Jun's mother nodded in agreement. "You're father's right dear. I thought you were well past that age."

"It's not my imagination," Jun protested and he was about to say more when a sudden crash and the sound of wood splintering came from upstairs.

"A burglar?" Jun's mother gave a breathless gasp, and gripped her son protectively by the shoulders.

"You three wait down here," Haruka said to the Yamano family. "Michiru, Hotaru, Sugar Devil, with me. Upstairs now."

"I'm not a sugar devil!" Chibiusa snapped at Haruka, following them towards the staircase.

Jun's father watched them go, taken aback by the whole ordeal. "Should he have taken those two little girls up there?"

"Maybe it's just a prank," Jun's mother laughed, but she didn't sound convinced.

Jun gave a huff of exasperation. He hated sitting on the sidelines, feeling helpless. And Haruka and Michiru certainly had no experience fighting monsters! They'd be eaten alive by that thing. Jun looked around frantically. It wasn't like the Yaju manor where swords were just lying around all over the place. But there was a baseball bat next to the fireplace...

Breaking away from his mother's frightened grip on him, Jun grabbed up the bat and made a dash for the stairs.

"Jun, no!" His mother cried, and his parents were hot on his heels, following him up the staircase.

When he reached the top landing, Michiru, Haruka, Chibiusa and Hotaru were standing outside the broken door to Hotaru's room.

"Something was definitely here," Michiru remarked, examining the splintered wood. "But I can't feel anything off."

"Maybe it left. What are you three doing up here?" Haruka demanded, rounding on the Yamano family.

Mr. Yamano looked as though he was about to say something, but the wall to his left rippled as if it were a liquid and the same tendrils of shadow that had emerged from the closet encircled his neck, arms and legs. Mrs. Yamano grabbed her son, forcing him behind her, her mouth opened in a silent 'O' of horror as her husband made a horrible gurgling sound and was dragged into the ripples of shadow.

"Mr. Yamano!" Michiru cried, heading towards where the man had disappeared into the wall, but Jun beat her to it crying frantically for his father.

"No, Jun! Get away from there!" Michiru cried, hauling the boy back just in time as the same shadows appeared again, grasping her by the arms and waist.

"Oh no you bloody well don't!" Haruka snarled, as Hotaru helped a trembling Jun to his feet. There was a flickering of lights that surrounded Haruka for an instant, and suddenly where what Jun's mother had thought to be a handsome young man was now a tall woman in a leotard and blue skirt resembling a sailor style school uniform with a shorter hemline and a hell of a lot more flash. The woman was holding a sword and she lunged at the tendrils holding Michiru, slicing at them with the curved blade that gave off an unnatural glow. Michiru was freed from the shadow's grasp, and she fell to the floor, landing catlike on all fours. Standing upright, similar lights that had covered Haruka before engulfed Michiru.

Sailor Neptune stepped forward as the light receded, standing between Mrs. Yamano and the children, and the shadowy creature that was coming out of her wall.

"The four of you get downstairs and out of this house." She said levelly as Sailor Uranus hacked and slashed at the shadows trying to ensnare her.

"What about my-" Mrs. Yamano began to protest, but Sailor Neptune silenced her with a glare.

"We'll see what we can do. But if you don't want anyone else to die, you _will_ get out of our way. Hotaru, Small Lady, I'm counting on you both."

Hotaru gave a grim nod, as Mrs. Yamano tried to demand an explanation. Jun looked to be in a state of shock, tears pouring down his cheeks as he stared back at the dark, shapeless monster Sailor Uranus was keeping at bay the best she could.

His father was...

...He was...

---

The world went by in a blur of greens and grayish browns as they sped through the foliage.

"So just what was that thing?" Touma asked, keeping pace with the Masho. Occasionally Sailor Star Healer would fall behind, and Star Fighter would slow her pace to help her friend keep up.

"A Wither," Rajura explained. "We get them in the Youjakai once in a blue moon. Nasty things. Kayura said their numbers were increasing in the human world, so she sent us up to keep an eye out."

"Is _that_ why we're here?" Anubisu sounded a little indignant. "I thought she just wanted us out of her hair while we met up with Kakyuu's envoys!"

"Can't imagine where you'd get that impression from," Naaza snickered. Anubisu's irritation was always a source of amusement for the snakelike Masho.

"Well, if you'd pay attention instead of storming off on you're own all the time, you might be better informed," Rajura halfheartedly reprimanded before continuing his explanation. "She hasn't said anything specific, but I think she's noticed that something is wrong.

"We've had trouble with Wither's on Kinmoku as well." Sailor Star Maker remarked. "Though after Chaos destroyed it, that's not really a big surprise. Withers are like vultures, drawn to ruin and despair."

"Chaos?!" Touma came to a halt, taken aback by this news.

"Yes," Star Maker said, giving Touma a bemused look. "But don't worry, she's long gone." She reassured with a wave of her hand.

It took a minute for this to register with Touma. "Must be a different Chaos," he said finally, and ran to catch up to the Masho and Starlights. "Listen, Nasuti's place isn't too far from here. I'm sure the other's would be helpful too."

The running slowed to a brisk walking pace.

"Others?" Star Fighter asked, one dark brow raised. "There're more of... well... whatever you are?"

"Aa." Touma nodded. "Four others. We're the Samurai Troopers, protectors of this world!" He said with just a hint of pride.

"By protectors of this world, he means a bunch of cocky whelps who got rather lucky," Naaza teased and Touma scowled.

"Are you looking for a fight? Because I'll beat you a hundred fold and you know it!"

Naaza rolled his pale slit eyes. "Certainly not. I would never dream of fighting you."

Anubisu could feel a vein throb in his temple, and he rounded on Naaza and Touma, his short temper finally gone out the proverbial window. "Are you two quite done or do I have to separate you both and put you in time out?" When in doubt, go for emasculation and abject humiliation. In other words, treat them like children. Rajura and the Starlights stifled a few snickers as Touma's and Naaza's aggression deflated and the two looked rather crestfallen. "That's what I thought," Anubisu continued, feeling victorious. "Nasuti is that woman who was with you in the Youjakai right? Who Shuten was looking out for?"

Touma nodded. "That would be her."

"We could do with all the help we can get. Withers aren't exactly pushovers." Rajura said, albeit reluctantly. Touma couldn't help but to raise one blue brow at this. It was odd to see the Masho accept any outside help so readily since they barely got along with one another. Certainly the four years under Kayura's reign had seemed to have gotten them to at least cooperate with each other on a regular basis, but he could hardly see the Masho as friends. They just happened to be three people on the same side.

If something could get the three proud Masho actively seeking outside help, it must have been very dangerous.

The Starlights had regrouped, and Sailor Star Healer was catching her breath. Sailor Star Fighter looked concerned, and was holding a hushed conversation with the other two.

"Should we trust them?" Star Fighter whispered to Star Maker, her dark brows pinching the bridge of her nose the way they always did when she was troubled. "They could be impostors."

"We really don't have much of a choice. If they aren't being entirely truthful, well, lies are discovered easily enough." She smiled, though the smile contained little humour. "We'll stay on our guard. It's better to follow a lie than walk around blindly. And with the chance they're telling the truth, we'll have made some fine allies."

"I'm inclined to agree with Star Maker. We'll trust them until they give us a reason not to." Star Healer said, wiping sweat from her face.

---

Shuu put the last of the dishes into a slot in the drying rack as Shin rinsed off his hands under cold water.

"Geh, I'm all pruney!" Shin remarked, holding up his wrinkled hands with the most discouraged expression on his face. Shuu laughed and tossed the dishtowel at his friend.

"Hey, don't look at me like a kicked puppy. I offered to do them but noooo, you just like getting wet."

Shin plucked the towel off his shoulder and wiped his hands on it before tossing the sodden cloth back at Shuu.

"Says the man with a jar of dirt on his bedside table."

"Oi! That's cold!" Shuu yelped, removing the cloth from where it hit him in the back of his neck.

"Now children," Nasuti reprimanded jokingly, coming in for another mug of instant coffee. "Play nicely."

"Yes mommy," they chorused, expressions the very pictures of innocence.

Nasuti sniffed, setting the kettle on to boil and tipping two spoon fulls of the instant coffee into her mug. The scent of artificial French vanilla wafted through the air. She looked stressed and tired. There were dark circles under her eyes and her brown hair was disheveled.

"Find out anything?" Shin asked, plopping down in a kitchen chair.

Nasuti rubbed her panda eyes and shook her head. She wasn't like Touma who could stay up three nights in a row (although the blue haired teen was terribly jittery and had a tendency to hold long, meaningful conversations with the lamp in the living room by the end of day two).

"Nothing. Which is odd."

"Well," Shuu said sympathetically, drying a mug and tipping spoon fulls of the coffee powder in for himself. "It's not like we really know what we're looking for anyway."

"No, I mean I was looking up fairy tales, but every webpage I went to just gave me errors. Even in Granddad's data, all I got were error messages. Like it was forbidden or something." She made an agitated noise and scratched at the back of her head. "I'm going to have a cup of coffee and then go check the library. I'm sure I have a few fairy stories in there."

Shuu sat down next to Shin and rubbed his fingers along the rim of the coffee mug.

"That's... awful strange."

Nasuti gave a small nod of agreement at Shuu's statement of the obvious. "Still, it further leads me to believe these fairy stories have a lot to do with whatever Seiji was seeing. I just need to figure out what it all means."

The boiling kettle blew the whistle on Nasuti's train of thought and she poured steaming mugs of coffee for herself and Shuu who took his gratefully.

"Thanks Nasuti. I'm gonna check the news, see if anything out of the ordinary's cropped up."

Shin watched as his friend left, his brow knit with worry.

"I have a very bad feeling about all this."

Nasuti gave a small nod of agreement, blowing on her coffee to cool it. "I can't see how any of us could feel anything else. What Seiji dreamed was definitely a kind of warning. But fairy tales?" She shook her head. "It doesn't make sense."

Shin pondered this, as the television in the living room switched on. "Maybe it's a sort of riddle?" He suggested, considering fixing himself a cup of coffee. He always thought better when he was awake.

"That's crossed my mind." Nasuti gave a small shake of her head. "But what does it mean?"

Shin chuckled. "I beg your pardon but I think that is why it's called a riddle."

Nasuti smiled, feeling the mood lighten a bit. She polished off the last of her coffee, and stuck out her tongue. "Smart ass. Anyway, I'm going to go dig up my copy of Grimm's Fairy Tales."

"I'm going to go help Shuu watch T.V." Shin joked but he was cut off by a sudden and frantic shout from Shuu.

"Guys! Guys come in here, quick!"

Shin and Nasuti exchanged bewildered looks before hurrying into the livingroom.

"Something wrong, Shuu?" Shin asked, giving his friend a look of concern.

"They're doing an emergency broadcast. It might be important." Shuu explained, pointing to the screen where a news reporter was sitting down in a pristine black and white suit dress and rather heavy make-up.

Nasuti, Shuu and Shin fell silent, their eyes fixed in silence on the screen, waiting in apprehension.

"We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming for this emergency news bulletin. Several bizarre accidents have happened across the country, caused by very gruesome creatures. Reports describe them as either very large, shadow-like creatures, or being like humans only," she swallowed, "only grossly mutilated and having multiple heads or too many limbs. The police warn that if one of these creatures is sighted, do not get into close proximity with it. They are incredibly hostile and attack all living things. There have also been reports on fairy tale stories rewriting themselves before people's very eyes. It is unknown if these unexplained phenomena are related, but the Prime Minister is declaring a state of national emergency. Please stay tuned for further updates."

Shin sank down onto the couch. "It's started."

Nasuti cursed under her breath. "And we don't even know how to deal with these things!"

Shuu looked between the two of them. "Isn't it obvious? We stop these creatures that are causing havoc!"

Shin shook his head and buried his face in his hands. "It's not so simple. We have no idea what these things are, how they attack. And there's no way we can drive all over Japan hunting them down."

"So we just sit here and wait?" Shuu demanded. He wasn't someone who could just sit by helplessly while other people were in danger.

"No," Nasuti said with resolve. "We learn. That reporter said fairy tales are rewriting themselves, right? Well, damned if that doesn't have anything to do with the attacks. I'll be right back. One of you... keep your eye on those news reports. And someone go get Ryo!" She'd let Seiji rest for as long as he could. The teen would just be useless if he couldn't think straight. She hurried to her grandfather's old study, leaving bewildered Shin and Shuu in her wake.

Somewhere... it had to be somewhere.

---

Touma led the Masho and the Starlights back to the Yagyu manor. He was worried. Actually, he was more accurately close to panic. Thoughts of that strange shadow moving on to attack his friends while they were unaware frightened him more than anything. When he reached the front door, he very nearly kicked it in, though he still had enough self control to recall the fit Nasuti had pitched when Byakuen and Kakuen wrecked her house. So he opened it, albeit very hastily. He was met with Shin who was heading upstairs.

"Where're the others?" Touma demanded breathlessly.

Shin looked at him perplexed. "Shuu's in the living room, and Nasuti's in the study. Seiji's still upstairs and Ryo hasn't come down yet. What's wrong? Why are you in armour? Why are they here? And who are-"

"No time to explain! Has anything happened around here? Like a weird shadowy creature?"

Shin frowned. "You saw one?"

Star Healer nodded. "They're called Withers. So one was here?"

Shin shook his head. "No, but it's all over the news. They've been popping up all across the country."

It was then that Nasuti hurried into the room, triumphantly holding a stack of books, the one on top opened to a page that was gradually filling with words.

"The lady on the news was right! The fairy tales are- _**EEEEK**_!" Nasuti let out an involuntary shriek and threw the books into the air when she caught sight of the Masho and what appeared to be three leather clad women who belonged on the cover of 'Bondage and You' monthly IN HER FRONT HALL.

One of the dominatrices jumped about three feet in the air at the disturbance (Nasuti was impressed she could jump, much less function in those thigh-high stiletto boots). Rajura's good eye twitched.

"What... who... how... when..." Nasuti tried to form a coherent question. It wasn't happening.

"It's a long story. Can someone get Korin and Rekka down here?" Anubisu snapped impatiently. "We don't have much time."

"They have names you know," Shin cast Anubisu an aggravated sidelong glance.

Shuu soon meandered into the front hall to see what the commotion was about, and nearly had a heart attack himself. He was about to shoot off several questions, mostly involving why there were scantily clad women strutting around the place and no one thought to inform him. The presence of the Masho was secondary, and not much of a surprise. After the incident with Arago, an evil sorcerer in the states, ninja attacking his uncle's restaurant, African men with a fetish for tying 16 year old boys to elephants, and falling off a roof only to not die, very little could surprise Shuu any more. Except maybe the fact that, despite the heat and humidity, he could see no signs of the leather get-ups chaffing. His mouth slowly began to open but quickly snapped shut when Shin gave him a warning look.

"Seiji went upstairs with a migraine." Nasuti explained.

"Your grain?" Naaza asked, wondering what grain had anything to with the situation. Well, the Yagyu manor was quite expansive. He was sure there was somewhere she could store grain though he did not see any being grown.

"No," Nasuti said in tone that was very carefully trying to keep her already frayed nerves from snapping. "A migraine. A really bad headache."

"Ah, so he's allergic to grains? That's unfortunate, but I have a simple remedy that should eliminate the headache."

Nasuti felt her temple throb as she gathered up her toppled books. The dark haired bondage woman knelt down to help her and she quickly averted her gave from what was going to be an eyeful of cleavage. "No, I mean... oh you know what? Just forget it."

Nasuti was twenty two years old and the one thing she wanted to say to three men several hundred years older than her was 'I'm getting to old for this'. She carefully refrained from doing so and instead thanked Sailor Star Fighter for helping her pick up her books. She set them down on the coffee table.

"I'll be right back. I can at least get Ryo and we can fill Seiji in when he's better," She stated and hurried up the stairs.

_---_

_It was the oldest part of the Forgotten Forest. The trees here rose up to the sky out of the shallow pools of clear water. It had once been a sacred fountain, built many years ago. Canals had diverted water from the river into the woods, and it became a place where stories began._

_But time had won out, and the old wood was forgotten. Trees and moss grew over the ancient stone structures, though the shapes of crumbled pillars and arches were still distinguishable._

_At the center of it all was a small grassy island, bathed in the yellow light of the sun. On this island grew the oldest tree of all._

_Petals from the blossoms drifted down in a cool breeze, tiny ripples expanding out when they touched the still surface of the water. In autumn, apples would grow ripe and red as sin._

_The stranger approached the island with a sense of trepidation. In the gloom of the trees lurked old and forgotten dangers waiting to snatch up the unwary. The stranger was small, not much larger than a child. But already the Wither inside of it had taken its toll. The face had vanished and the child's fingertips and toes had hardened and grown into black claws._

_The Prophet of Ruin hopped along moss covered mounds protruding from the water, her clawed feet leaving deep prints in the thick green covering. She could feel the trees rustling in discontent. She couldn't stay in one place long, otherwise the roots would snap up from under her and pull her into the earth._

_She could not afford to die._

"_**Lord Oberon!" **Her mind reached out to the island as her footfalls came to rest on the surface of the water and did not sink down. Apple blossoms floated by in the warm, still air. The forest was quiet, but it was not silent. There was the buzz of insects, wary bird calls, and the rustle of leaves in the occasional breeze. The Prophet of Ruin reveled in the peace while she awaited the King of Fairies to make himself known._

_There was movement on the island. Something emerged from the tree trunk that had before seemed like it was part of the bark. There was the snap of vines breaking, and the creature awoke. It looked partially human. Well, the upper half did. It moved slowly, it's massive curved horns adorned with flowering vines. It's shaggy hair was the colour of dried grass, and its skin was dull grayish brown and covered in moss. The lower half of its body was covered in a thick coat of fur, and instead of feet it walked on cloven hooves. The faun was already dying, and had started to become a part of the forest._

"_**Who are you?**" The Prophet of Ruin demanded of the faun._

_The creature eyed her with a cold and haughty gaze, stepping down from the island and treading on the surface of the water as if it were glass._

"_I have many names," he breathed slowly, his voice a low and thunderous growl. "I am this forest. Every root, every branch, every twig and leaf. Oak, ash, maple and pine. I can feel their agony as that thing draws out its life. I am the silence of every rock, the flow of every stream, the whisper of every breeze, every ray of sunlight that pierces the canopy-"_

"_**You are not King Oberon. Where is he?**"_

"_He has gone!" The Faun thundered. "He has fled, as have so many others. Even my son took flight when the roses provide him such protection!"_

"_**I must find him.**"_

"_You won't."_

"_**He has something of mine that I wish returned. It is imperative that I find him. Please, before it's too late!**"_

"_Too late?" The faun let out a derisive chuckle. "Child it is already too late. When Big Bad Wolf awakened, it was too late for us. For all of us! I came here to die with the forest."_

"_**There is still time! I have found those who can turn the tide in our favour.**"_

_The Faun spat. "A fool's hope."_

"_**It is still hope.**" The Prophet retorted._

_Silence reigned between them, the only sounds were of birds chirping and leaves rustling. The Faun considered her words, surveying the old wood._

"_In that case..." He uttered to himself, wandering back to the island and disappearing behind the great apple tree. He emerged shortly, carrying something long and thin. Its true shape was obscured by the rags it was wrapped in._

"_It took all my cunning to steal this. Oberon intended it for himself, and though wise he may be, he is also greedy. You will use it as intended?"_

"_**As I always have.**"_

_The Faun watched the child go. "When they see you, they will not know you."_

_She stopped. "**That was never my intention.**" She looked at the faun. Or at least she turned her faceless head to him. "**Are you Robin Goodfellow?**"_

_He nodded, his voice as deep and low as distant thunder affirmed with a simple "yes"._

"_**Do not be in such a hurry to die.**" She didn't vanish. She had just been there, and then she had never been there._

---

Seiji had gone limp, his expression blank. Occasionally, he would open or close his mouth. Sometimes there would be that horribly raspy hiss, and sometimes it was a determined, if otherwise incomprehensible noise made with Seiji's voice that sounded closer and closer.

Ryo wasn't sure if this lack of movement was better or worse than Seiji trying to kill him. After he had gotten halfway through a cock and bull story about a hippopotamus and a fly, Seiji had requested silence, and had fallen slack against the side of his bed. Ryo had complied. He didn't speak. He didn't move. He dare not leave Seiji's side in case his friend needed him again. Sometimes he had to remind himself to breathe.

Seiji was fighting something, but Ryo couldn't fathom what it was. He wished there was something he could do to help besides sit there and hope for the best. Ryo wasn't good at sitting. He was even worse at sitting still and quiet. Especially when his friends were in trouble.

He was not an idle man, and he lived to protect those he cared about.

It was then that Nasuti pushed open the door. "Ryo, I need you downstairs. It's important!"

But it was already too late.

---

It was going so _well,_ Seiji thought in frustration. He'd very nearly broken the creature's hold on him. It was all a matter of sheer will power, really. The thing fed on the darkness and doubt of the mind, but this one was weak. He had caught a glimpse of something much bigger through his contact with the thing, and it was the large monster that had spoken through him, but this one was small. Seiji just needed to focus, because he could work out the thing's weaknesses if he could just concentrate and keep it fixated on him.

But then easier prey had stormed into the room and it had fled from Seiji's body in a flutter of shadow and emptiness. It poured out his mouth, his nostrils, his eyes. It took a sort of shape. Half shadow, half some sort of gelatinous mass, constantly reshaping itself. Seiji could make out what appeared to be writing inside of it, but the lines were distorted and indistinguishable, writhing and swirling around on the creature's insides. A wave of nausea overtook him and he doubled over as that mornings breakfast resurfaced.

Quick as lightning, the Wither lunged for Nasuti, pinning her to the wall and trying to crawl into her skin. She screamed, white hot agony blinding her to anything but the pain of this creature trying to burrow into her soul.

The noise alerted the others downstairs and as one group led by Touma, they stampeded to the source of the scream.

Many things happened at once then. Eight people tried to squeeze in through one door at the same time. Seiji tried to regain his bearings, and Ryo launched himself unarmed at the creature attacking Nasuti. This moment, only a moment, hung in time for what seemed like an eternity.

And then the floor opened up beneath Nasuti's feet. But what was below was not the living room downstairs, but miles of sky, and clouds, and far, far below acres of green. The circle of sky spanned out, under the feet of the Masho, Starlights and Shin, Shuu and Touma and before they could react, they were falling.

Ryo gripped the Wither that had Nasuti pinned to the wall, her feet dangling over the open air. The creature bucked, tossing Ryo back and he hit the floor that hadn't been swallowed, but Nasuti was freed from the Wither's hold and slid down the wall.

Seiji, recovered from his fit of nausea reacted as quickly as he could, reaching out for Nasuti's hand. Instead he caught the sleeve of her shirt. She hung there, looking up with an expression of abject terror.

"Don't look down!" He was sure he could hear the chime of bells somewhere. He saw in his minds eye the Wither straighten to attention, shadowy tendrils reaching out as if to test the air.

"Touma... Shin... Shuu... they..." She gasped, trembling as Seiji sought a better hold on her. The Wither scuttled along the wall towards Ryo, who was gingerly clutching his bruised ribs.

"I know," Seiji replied, ignoring the tears stinging his eyes. He felt the fabric clutched between his fingers begin to give. "Nasuti, take my other hand!"

"I can't, I'll fall!"

"Damned if you do, damned if you don't!"

"Oh very encouraging!"

The chime of bells again. Seiji tried to ignore them. That is until the floor exploded with light, knocking him back into Ryo. The Wither made a horrible high pitched noise, its gelatinous flesh bubbling up with hundreds of sores as if it were being cooked from the inside out and it dissolved into particles of shadow into nothing.

When the light receded, the floor had returned to normal. There were no signs of the women in leather. No signs of the Masho, nor Shin, Shuu and Touma. Nasuti had gone as well.

Seiji didn't know what to do. His friends had fallen to their deaths and there was nothing he could do.

It took a moment for the sunlight pouring in through the bedroom window reflecting off of glass so fine it was almost invisible to catch his eye.

A glass slipper.

And an address.

_---_

_The Prophet of Ruin looked out over the sky at the nine lights drifting slowly to earth. She had missed two, but no matter. She had left the shoe and address there for a reason. She had not been sure if she would be so on the mark with opening the gate between worlds, but she had to be a little impressed. Already she had been able to bridge two worlds. All that she had failed was bringing two, and keeping the nine together._

_No matter. There was still time._

_---_

_Green grass rolled out for miles around, dotted with pale gray limestone boulders and crumbled pillars coated with lichen and moss. Mock Turtle watched as a shepherd urged his flock on, two sheep dogs at the woolly beasts' heels. Shadows of white clouds drifted across the land as the faun played his pipes. Gryphon was laying on a fallen pillar of the old stone circle, sunning himself in the clear afternoon._

_He could see the Forgotten Forest in the distance, and the patch of brown trees where the Big Bad Wolf was lurking. He could also see Gryphon's castle rising up from the trees, the red roses covering the great stone structure looked like little drops of blood at this distance._

_Mock Turtle lowered his pipes, and stood up on cloven hooves, his collection of turtle shells rattling on the chord around his waist. Gryphon's ear twitched irritably, but otherwise he didn't stir. When Mock Turtle had first met Gryphon, the chimeraish creature had been a light sleeper and would jolt upright at so much as the chirp of a cricket. Now he'd grown used to his friends noises and seemed much calmer. What bothered Mock Turtle was how little he knew about his friend. He had just shown up one day in the Queen of Hearts castle, with no name, no memory. Nothing. _

_The abandoned castle had been left in Gryphon's charge when the Queen had grown sick of this land and went off to conquer the Red Kingdom. No one seemed willing to take the forest castle from him, despite the beast's lack of authority. The roses seemed to have their own authority though. When the Queen had left, her great rose bushes seemed to explode with life, creeping up the castle walls, through the windows and covering as much of the stone structure they could. They were beautiful, and bloomed even during the winter. The Queen of Hearts Castle soon came to be known as the Witherless Castle, not only because the roses never died, but because no Wither dare approach. Even Big Bad Wolf feared the roses. Why, no one knew. But the castle stood as some sort of defense against Big Bad Wolf, and it gave Mock Turtle some hope._

_He wasn't expecting the sky to suddenly be filled with pillars of light, spanning far and wide. He counted eight._

_Gryphon stirred from his nap, standing upright as the light filled the world._

"_Has it begun?" He asked, and a ninth light shot down from the heavens right to the center of the massive stone circle. "I'll take that as a yes," he said._

"_Looks like the Prophets gone and cocked it up though. They were supposed to arrive together." Mock Turtle snapped as Gryphon took loping strides to where the ninth light was fading and he could make out the distinct shape of something human floating down to the green earth._

"_It doesn't matter," he breathed, slowing his pace until he reached the fallen figure. It seemed female. "They've come."_

_Mock Turtle looked down at the girl. "This mousy thing is one of those the Prophet chose?"_

"_Don't be fooled by appearances. She's probably got a whole slew of magical powers or a legendary sword. Why else would she be brought here?"_

"_Stop yammering on bird brain! Look, she's waking up."_

_Nasuti twitched and rolled onto her back. She was sure she had fallen to her death. Was this heaven? She could feel warm sunlight and smell fresh, damp grass._

_She opened here eyes._

_Now, Nasuti was a reasonable woman, governed by laws and logic and rationality. She was a smart woman. Gifted in fact. All her life, she'd often scored very high on her tests and reached the single digits in her place in class rankings. She did not scare easily either. Fear was often counter productive._

_But Nasuti had a stressful few days, not to mention the all-nighter she'd pulled followed by all that nonsense and a near death experience._

_So when a giant feathered and beaked face stared down at her with round, yellow eyes, she still had enough scream left in her to let out a shriek and scuttle back from Gryphon._

_Mock Turtle watched this display, his ears flattening against the side of his head._

"_Oh yes," He said finally, "My faith in the Prophet has been wholly and unquestionably restored, never to be shaken or doubted again."_

_Gryphon cast his cynical companion an irritated sidelong glance. "Oh shut up."_

_---_

**End of Chapter 3: Fragmentation**


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